China is a major producer of castings, and the output of non-ferrous castings is second to none in the world. However, the output growth of Chinese castings will slow down significantly in the future. According to the information released by the Foundry Association, the total output of all kinds of castings in China was 42.5 million tons in 2012, a 2.4% increase from the year-ago period in 2011, and the growth rate has slowed down significantly. From the perspective of changes in the material structure, aluminum alloy castings increased by 7.2% in 2012, ductile iron castings increased by 3.8%, gray iron castings increased slightly, and steel castings did not increase.

Downstream industry casting demand structure changes significantly. In 2012, the demand for castings in the fields of machine tools, construction machinery, commercial vehicles, diesel engines, small tractors, turbine generators, wind power, etc., fell significantly; passenger cars, mining equipment, cranes, large and medium-sized tractors, and general-purpose vehicles. The demand for castings in machinery and other fields has increased. Among them, the growth of passenger vehicles is the most important reason for the increase in demand for non-ferrous alloy castings in 2012.

From the perspective of the demand for castings in various industries, automotive castings account for a quarter, and the changes in automobile output and structure have a great impact on the total amount of castings; the demand for various types of pipe fittings accounts for 12.2%. “At present, the cast pipe industry, especially the centrifugal cast pipe, has a serious excess production capacity. The blind expansion of the relevant industries should be worth paying close attention to.” Zhang Libo reminded enterprises.

The slowdown in the growth rate of China's casting production has already begun in 2012. China's casting output is affected by various factors, in particular, the relationship between supply and demand of castings and the saturation of production capacity, and the output growth rate will slow down significantly.