Casting Sales Forecast to Grow 14 percent by '08

摘要

Despite only a slight growth in light vehicle production in 2005, metal casting shipments rose 4.2 percent over 2004 to 14,142,000 tons. The rebound is expected to continue in each of the next three years and show an overall growth of 1.9 percent to 14,648,000 tons from 200-1 to 2008. While gray iron casting shipments are expected to show" a long-term decline of 1 percent: per year, other cast metals are to rise. Ductile iron casting shipments are forecast to gain 1.8 percent in 2006 followed by a solid 5 percent increase in the next three years to exceed 4.8 million tons in 2008. Aluminum casting shipments are expected to rise 2.6 percent in 2006 and grow in the short term by 8.3 percent through 2008. Even though steel castings arc expected to decline 0.8 percent per year in the long term, increases in railroad freight car deliveries in the short term are forecast to propel shipments to more than 1.3 million tons in 2008.