China remains an indispensable center for castings supply
On April 14, the 29th Global Foundry Sourcing Conference 2023, which was organized by the Foundry-Suppliers.Com (FSC) and Suppliers China Co., Ltd. (SC) and co-sponsored by the National Technical Committee 54 on Foundry of Standardization Administration of China (SAC/TC54), was held at the Shanghai
Opening ceremony
29th Global Foundry Sourcing Conference in Shanghai
This year, the Conference was attended by more than 70 multinational purchasing companies, including ZF Group, Bosch, AAM, BorgWarner, Contitech, Eaton, Dellner Train, CNH, Emerson, Emerson Marine System, Emerson Process Management, Atlas Copco, Buhler Industries Inc., Danieli, Musashi, WITZENMANN, GRUNDFOS Pumps, Sulzer Pumps, CASAPPA, Armstrong Fluid Technology, ATG, EQI, KSB, DAB, Nikkiso, Pratt Valve, IDEX, Scherzinger, WEIR ESCO, Litostroj, Ziehl-Abegg, Haldex, Danfoss and Metso Minerals.
Participating buyers (only part of the logo)
The buyers were mainly from multinational groups, overseas enterprises, purchasing centers and leading enterprises including more than 20 Fortune Global 500 companies, covering a lot of sectors like automotive, agricultural machinery, engineering machinery, mining machinery, pumping and valve, shipping, rail transit, energy and electricity, food machinery, urban infrastructure and general machinery. It is worth mentioning that ZF Group, Nedschroef and LASKA have introduced their products and purchasing demands in the Asia-Pacific region and across the world.
ZF Group Pruchasing Report
Nedschroef Machinery Sourcing Needs
Based on purchasers’ needs, FSC has invited more than 220 excellent producers and relevant service providers to this conference, in which No.1 Foundry of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Co., Ltd., Xiangyang JNT Machinery Co.,Ltd. and Anhui Shantin Mechanical & Electrical Inc. have given presentations about their products, R&D capacity and facilities, sparking heated discussions among participants. FSC has also arranged several special reports during the conference. Ms. Athena Tan from VCI Antirust New Materials (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. has acquainted the audience with the “Application of A New Generation of Biodegradable Environmental Cleaning and Antirust Technology in Casting Process”, providing great insights into the warehousing and transportation of casting products; Mr. Jack Yu from Shanghai Allthinkstars Industry Technology Co., Ltd. has made a presentation about the “Intelligent upgrading of the foundry enterprises: Build an efficient production pattern”; and Mr. Li Jinliang, one of the panelists of FSC from Xuzhou Feiyun Foam Products Co., Ltd., has introduced “The Relationship Between Vanishing Models and Castings”.
Introduction of No.1 Foundry Of Dongfeng Forging Co., Ltd.
Process Design of Complex Casting Supported by High Strength and Toughness Ductile Iron and Its Application in Integral Casting of Axle Housing
Purchasers visited samples booth
Purchasers visited samples booth
Application of a new generation of biodegradable environmental cleaning and antirust technology in casting process
The relationship between vanishing models and castings
As Mr. Wang Longhe, the COO of Foundry-Suppliers.Com, pointed out in the opening remarks, FSC found that traditional casting orders and enquiries have been decreasing since spring in 2023. Based on global purchasing statistics, FSC discovered that the purchasing demands in the downstream industry have contracted since 2023 and summarized possible reasons as follows.
Firstly, amid global economic recession, global manufacturing industry is impacted by regional conflicts, trade barriers and the slow consumption recovery in the post-pandemic era.
Secondly, the world is undergoing industrial transfer. Amid economic globalization, industrial development and transfer both have their own laws. To reduce costs and expand market, enterprises tend to adjust their production capacity distribution and move to regions with low production costs. In the foundry sector, as multinational groups are expanding across the globe to build production bases in Southeast Asia and countries like Mexico, it is reasonable for them to purchase locally and support local suppliers. Therefore, casting orders from multinational groups will accelerate to transfer to Southeast Asia, Mexico and other regions. This has become a general trend as more and more domestic enterprises are also following the suit to transfer the manufacturing sector to Southeast Asia. Moreover, an increasing number of multinational purchasers are consulting us about the casting suppliers in the Southeast Asia.
Thirdly, with the subsequent effect of China-US trade war, more and more casting producers are going abroad to invest and build factories. Tuopu Group, Wencan Group, Lizhong Group, Xusheng Group and Wuxi Yoshioka Precision Technology are all investing in Mexico to build or plan to build factories. In this way, they can reduce customs and transportation expenses, so as to secure their supply chains.
It should also be noted that at present, most of the castings orders that have been transferred are mainly for mid-and-low-end products and local side products. Since the 21st century, China’s casting output has ranked first in the world for more than 20 consecutive years. In 2021, the total output of castings in China reached 54.05 million tons, accounting for 45% of the global market share. This shows that China's foundry industry boasts great advantages in both domestic and foreign markets, given that the production, processing, and assembly of castings all require the coordination of different sectors including raw materials, machinery, heat treatment, surface treatment, and other relevant industrial chains. In addition, the strategic advantages and enormous market space in China are still great attractions to global foundry industry. The resilient, safe, and stable casting supply chains in China can bring sound expectations to foreign-owned enterprises.
Therefore, FSC holds that China will remain an indispensable center for casting supply.
The on-site negotiation session has always been a highlight of the Foundry Sourcing Conference, where the buyers can have face-to-face exchanges with suppliers. Thanks to FSC’s professional and considerate preparations prior to the Conference, both suppliers and buyers have benefited a lot from these busy and well-organized negotiations.
Time for negotiation
Litostroj Group was talking with supplier
EMERSON was talking with supplier
Time for negotiation
There are both opportunities and challenges, difficulties and hopes. As we move forward, FSC will go all out for the development and transformation of global foundry industry.
Suppliers China Co., Ltd.