Metal Casting Industry Profile
The U.S. is the largest producer of cast products in the world. In 2006, the U.S. metal casting industry shipped over 12.5 million tons of castings valued at $33.5 billion.
Total U.S. Production of metal castings by Type:
- 8.4 million tons of iron castings
- 1.4 million tons of steel castings
- 2.0 million tons of aluminum castings
- 0.7 million tons of other metal castings
Major end-use markets cross all sectors of the U.S. economy and include motor vehicles and other transportation equipment, oil field machinery, power generation equipment pipes, industrial machinery, construction materials, and other products vital to our economy and national security.
In 2006, the industry employed 163,000 people in approximately 2,170 establishments (700+ ferrous, and 1400+ non-ferrous).
Energy
The U.S. metal casting industry's energy end use totaled an estimated 157 trillion Btu. The industry spent $1.68 billion on purchased fuel and electricity.
In metal casting operations, the most energy-intensive process is the melting of metal. Melting consumes approximately 55% of the industry's total energy costs. Other energy-intensive processes include: core making, mold making, heat treatment, and post-cast activities.
Economics
The metal casting industry is vital to the U.S. economy and national security. Cast metal components are used in the energy, automotive, aerospace, railroads, electronics, manufacturing, plumbing, construction and other industries. The metal casting industry ships about 12.5 million tons of castings annually, valued in excess of $33.5 billion.
Environmental
The metal casting industry is one of the largest recyclers in North America and perhaps the world, saving about 15-20 million tons of scrap metal from disposal in landfills and junkyards each year and using this waste as a source of raw material to produce useful products.
Employment
Human Resources: Casting production requires a large labor force. Early retirements and staff reductions in response to depressed market conditions and low levels of hiring have resulted in a shortage of experienced technical, management, and supervisory people. Additionally, the lack of industry support for graduate research work in metal casting has created a low turnout of graduate engineers interested in entering the metal casting industry. The Metal Casting Industry of the Future research is addressing this need by emphasizing university-based research and training hundreds of students in the field of metal casting.
Small Business: Support of the metal casting industry is support for small business. Metal casting represents the interest and viewpoint of small business, with a large majority of metal casting establishments employing fewer than 100 people each.
Jobs: The 2,170 metal casting establishments with their 163,000 employees are very important to the U.S. economy and the manufacturing base of the nation. There are over 40,000 jobs provided by the supplier side and hundreds of thousands of jobs in the end-user automotive, aerospace, railroad, and construction industries.
Energy & Environmental Profile
This informative report provides an overview of the U.S. metal casting industry, including data on market trends, energy and material consumption, and an environmental overview. (PDF 1.6 MB) Download Adobe Reader.
Industry Analysis in Brief
The Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), in partnership with the Energy Information Administration, has created a comprehensive report that displays information on the economics, energy use, technologies and management activities that affect the metal casting industry.