Mining data from a survey of metalcasting facilities across the United States, Global Casting Magazine offers a snapshot of the American metalcasting industry. The data was compiled from a survey of 1,692 domestic metalcasting facilities, 86.1% of the estimated total of 1,965 plants.
Following is a breakdown of the survey results, illustrating the numbers by material, process, location, value-added services and coremaking capabilities. The percent of responses reflects the number of surveyed facilities that responded to each question. Averages were found by eliminating the highest and lowest numbers in each category and dividing the sum by the number of responses.
Material
Leader: Aluminum
Last Place: Titanium
Aluminum is the dominant material, with 800 facilities (47.3% of respondents) pouring some type of aluminum alloy. The percentage of aluminum casting facilities is a slight increase from last year’s 46.6% (788 of 1,691 respondents). While most facilities report pouring more than one material, no other metal comes close to aluminum’s share. However, when it comes to volume, aluminum comes in third after ductile and gray iron.
Iron is the second most used material, with 25.5% of metalcasting facilities pouring the metal, a decrease of more than 4% in the last year. Sixty-two facilities (3.7%) reported pouring aluminum, iron and steel, and 118 facilities (7%) pour both aluminum and iron. Titanium remains in last place, with only 21 facilities casting it.