Due to the continued growth of China’s economy, its machine tool industry is projected to keep its fast growth pace and lead in the development of the casting die industry. As die making technology and quality has improved, imports are expected to be cut less and, in return, overseas markets to expand gradually.
In recent years, with the development of investment casting products and the die industry, producing relevant products such as vertical machining center and CNC lathes has greatly improved the precision and depth of the investment casting industry, maintaining the coherence and coordination between industries.
For years, China’s die industry reports an average growth rate of over 15%, much higher than that of GDP, in which investment casting die take 5% in total output value of the die industry, with an annual growth rate of up to 25%. The secretary of the International Die Association, Luo Baihui, pointed out China is witnessing a fast growing period for automobiles and motorcycles, especially cars, which is closely relevant to investment casting, an industry that has shown an increasing demand for complicated investment casting dies. The future of casting die industry is promising as an important support for the investment casting industry. Automobile industry is expected to remain the primary driving force for casting die industry for the years to come.
“In the ‘eleventh five year plan’ period, China’s investment casting die industry has been emerged into globalization,” experts report. “In the ‘twelfth five year plan period’ we should improve the industry management and build a fair and reasonable casting die price system to well regulate the market.” In this respect, the improvement of die design and production mainly include developing high speed processing technology; improving surface treatment technology and standardization; spreading the range of using standard units; improving the integration of design, processing and equipment; and improving the manufacture of large, complicated, investment and long-life dies.
The large trade deficit shows die import still exists and is growing, currently. China’s investment casting industry is seeking to convert the overcapacity of low and midrange capacity to meet the demand of high end capacity, especially in the area of key parts and CNC systems.