Casting Production Trends in Europe

Data pulled from the Modern Casting 47th Census of World Casting Production indicates that while Europe maintains a firm place in world casting production, poor market performances in the latter half of 2012 diminished the region’s gains for the year. Casting producing nations produced a combined 15.4 million tons in 2012, the year of the most recent census, compared to 15.9 million tons in 2011.

Germany

Germany has consistently been one of the top five casting producing nations in the world. Ten years ago, it was producing 4.6 million tons of castings. In 2012, it produced 5.2 million castings, amounting to $17.6 million in value. The largest segment for Germany by value in U.S. dollars is nonferrous, totaling nearly $7 million. Notably, Germany is the world leader in per plant production, averaging 8,618 tons of castings produced per plant in 2012.

Italy

Italy’s production in 2012 of nearly 2 million metric tons decreased 11% from 2011, but it remained in the list of top 10 casting nations in the world. It is the largest producer of castings in Europe. The country reported it had 1,111 metalcasting facilities in operation in 2012, compared to 1,159 in 2002.

France

France ranked as the 10th largest producer of cast components in the world, churning out 1.8 million metric tons of castings, amounting to $7.8 million in value. Its production dropped by 12% from 2011.

Belgium

Belgium reported a 63.5% increase in casting shipments—an additional 29,200 metric tons—from 2011 to 2012.

United Kingdom

In the U.K., casting shipments in 2012 totaled 1,532,000 metric tons, which was a slight drop from 2011. The first half of 2012 maintained the strong production levels experienced in 2011, but most sectors showed a marked decline in the second half, according to the CAEF’s “The European Foundry Industry 2012.”

Poland

Poland continued its recovery and growth exhibited in 2010-2011 with a 5.4% increase in casting production in 2012 for a total of 1,036,800 metric tons. Poland reported its casting value sold to be $2,515,044.

Spain

Spain saw a 9.6% decrease in casting shipments from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, the nation shipped 1,124,684 metric tons of castings; the total value of those shipments amounted to $3,478,880.