Document ID: EPA-HQ-OW-2015-0680-0257
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2017-01-17T05:00Z

Overview of U.S. Metalcasting Industry 

Metalcasting is a process in which molten or liquid metal is poured into a mold made of sand, metal or ceramic, to form geometrically complex parts. All major metals can be cast. The most common are iron, aluminum, magnesium, zinc, steel and copper-based alloys. U.S. foundries across the country produce thousands of different metal castings which are essential to the health of the economy and the nation.  In fact, metal castings are used in more than 90 percent of all manufactured goods.  Castings are used in cars, trucks, railroads, ships, defense, all types of machinery, air conditioners, street lights, refrigerators, lawn mowers, medical devices, weight lifting, oil and gas field equipment, plumbing/water works, mining and agricultural equipment. 
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Demographics 
* 1,965 -- Number of metalcasting facilities in the U.S., down from 2,170 five years ago and, 3,200 plants in 1991.  This reduction can be attributed to the recession, technological advances, foreign competition and tightening of federal, state and local regulations.
* 20% -- The percentage of Chinese casting imports which comprise the U.S. marketplace. 
* 80%+ -- Percentage of firms that are small businesses (less than 100 employees) and many are still family owned.
      o Foundries dispersed throughout the U.S. with the highest geographic concentration in Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, California, Texas, and Wisconsin.
* 200,000+ -- Number of people employed by the U.S. metalcasting industry. 
* $8+ billion -- Amount of payroll the industry supports.
* 12 million -- Total U.S. tonnage of castings produced in the U.S. in 2014.
* $31+ billion -- Total value of all castings produced in the U.S. in 2014. The U.S. is the global leader in casting applications and second in production.  China is now the largest producer of all types of castings in the world, with over 30,000 foundries. 
* 90% of all manufactured goods contain some metal castings.
* Supply castings to key sectors: agriculture, construction, mining, railroad, automotive, aerospace, communications, health care, defense, water works, and infrastructure. 
      o 100+ -- Number of metal castings found in an automobile. 
* For every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, another $1.37 is added to the economy, the highest multiplier effect of any economic sector. 
            

 
                 Use of metalcasting by industry sector (2015 data)

U.S. Metalcasting Industry by Material, Process and State
January 2015 issue of Modern Casting (Click here to see the story as it appears in the magazine.)

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.
Plants per State
Leader: Ohio
Last Place: Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota (Note: some states have no participating facilities.)
Ohio leads the industry in number of metalcasting facilities reported, with 158 (or 9.4% of the total facilities in the U.S.). Pennsylvania upped its total by two to 134, good enough to recapture the No. 2 spot from California, which remained at 133 for 2014. Wisconsin ranked fourth with 125 facilities, while Michigan and Illinois rounded out the states reporting more than 100 facilities, with 121 and 116, respectively.  Three states -- Alaska, Hawaii and North Dakota -- each have one metalcaster participating in our research, as does the District of Columbia.  The other states with fewer than 10 facilities reported are Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming. Delaware did not have any participating metalcasting facilities.
Process
Leader: Green Sand/Horizontally Parted
Last Place: V-Process
Horizontally parted green sand molding is the perennial favorite process, with 655 of the 1,692 facilities (or 38.7%) using it, a slight increase in facilities and percentage compared to 2012. Its vertically parted counterpart, which often is used for higher volumes, is found in only 12.3% of facilities. The no-bake process comes in at a close second with 604 facilities, or 35.7%.
Many facilities report using multiple processes. One hundred twenty facilities use both the green sand and permanent mold processes (7.1%), and 433 facilities use the green sand and nobake processes (25.6%). Seven facilities reported using the V-process, a casting method with a vacuum holding unbonded sand in a mold during pouring.

Value-Added Services
Leader: Finish Machining
Last Place: Coating
Of the 1,692 facilities that participated in the U.S. census, 1,187 (70.2%) reported offering at least one value-added service. Machining was the most popular service, with 908 facilities (53.7% of all responses; 76.5% of facilities with value-added operations) offering finish machining capabilities and 892 offering rough machining (53.4%; 75.1%). Heat treatment, patternmaking and engineering and design all totaled more than 700 responses.  The vast majority of facilities offering value-added services reported multiple methods, with 1,105 of 1,188 (93.3%) offering at least two. Fifty-five metalcasters reported offering all 10 of the survey's value-added services. Prototyping (290) and coating (217) were the least popular services.

Metalcasting Process
*  See chart below outlining basic manufacturing processes of a cast metal component. 
 
NOTE:  This broad overview of the manufacturing process of a casting does not include the labeling and packaging of our products. Cast-in labeling would be added to the master pattern during the `Pattern and Tooling' part of the design and engineering process.  Auxiliary tags on placed on packaging material or components after manufacture would be added during `Post Casting Processing' before the component is sent to the customer and placed into final service.