Economic Profile and Trends
Value of Shipments | Annual Production | Labor Productivity
The metalcasting industry provides approximately 2% of the manufacturing GDP. The industry employs a quarter of a million people in all 50 states, with a total annual payroll of $7.4 billion. [DOC 2001] Small- and medium-sized foundries dominate the industry, with about 80% of all foundries employing fewer than 100 people and only 6% having a staff larger than 250. [Kanick 1998, AFS 2001]
The United States led all other countries in the world in producing metal castings in 1997, supplying one-fifth of the world's total shipments of 67 million tons. The nearest competitor is China, with about 16% of the total. [AFS 1998]
Public and private research institutions and organizations are part of the infrastructure of the metalcasting industry. R&D expenditures in 1997 were about evenly divided between nonferrous metals and ferrous metals. [NSF 1997]
Value of Shipments |
$28.0 billion |
Employment |
199,343 |
Average Hourly Wages
(Production Workers) |
$15.94 |
Capital Expenditures |
$1.5 billion |
R&D Expenditures (1997) |
$767 million |
Pollution Abatement Expenditures (1994)
Captial
Operating |
$52.2 million
$328.4 million |
Trade
Imports
Exports
Balance |
$428 million
$376 million
-$52 million |
Source: DOC 1994, DOC 2001, ITA 2001, NSF 1997
Casting shipments have increased steadily since the early 1990s
More than 14 million tons of castings are produced annually
The labor productivity of both ferrous and nonferrous foundry workers has increased over the last decade
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