CMYK CASTING INDUSTRY Casting a spell on the Indian growth story The auto industry in India and China is on the upswing and all big producers are relocating their manufacturing in this region to be near the future biggest consumer markets. This will further open more opportunities for castings and forging industries both for domestic production and also for exports. The Indian casting industry is well established. India ranks as 6th country in the world for producing an estimated 6 Million MT of various grades of castings as per international standards The World Census of Castings Casting and forging are two manufacturing processes that give intricate shape to industrial components. No industrial product can be complete without the two processes. We all know how in the Stone Age, men used to heat iron and give it shape by beating. It is this process that developed into the forging industry in the modern times. Similarly the casting process has also been in existence since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Forgings are preferred because of better directional strength, high impact toughness, fatigue properties and structural integrity. 148 PURCHASE September 2011
In Brief India has a long history in both these manufacturing processes. The most important end user industry segments for the casting industry are: Automotive Industry Construction Industry Engineering Industry Aeronautical and Electronics Industry Of this, the automotive sector consumes about 50 per cent of the total castings production, while the engineering industry accounts for 30 per cent and the construction industry 10 per cent. The balance is for the rest of the industry. While the automotive industry uses mostly iron castings, the engineering industry generally uses steel castings. The forging industry s main end user segment is automotive industry. The engineering, mining, railways and hydrocarbon and petrochemicals are the others. Of this, the automotive industry consumes about 60 per cent of the forging production, while the engineering industry and the agricultural machinery sector account for about 10 per cent each. The railways and mining account for 5 per cent of the demand. The Indian Casting Industry an overview India ranks 6th country in the world for producing an estimated 6 Million MT of various grades of castings. The various types of castings which are produced are ferrous, non ferrous, aluminium alloy, graded cast iron, ductile iron, steel etc for application in automobiles, railways, pumps compressors and valves, diesel engines, cement/electrical/ textile machinery, amongst others. The grey iron castings have a major share of 70 per cent of the total castings produced. There are approximately 4,500 units engaged in castings, out of which 80 per cent can be classified as small-scale units and 10 per cent each as medium and large-scale units. The industry is a labour intensive one, employing about 5,00,000 people directly and an additional 1,50,000 people indirectly. The small units are mainly dependant on manual labour. However, the medium and large units are semi or fully mechanized and some of the large units are world class. The industry is organized in clusters in various regions like Agra, Belgaum, Chennai, Howrah, Coimbator e, Chennai, Kolhapur, Ludhiana, Pune and Rajkot. Each cluster has its own niche products for its user industries. The product mix The industry is trying to focus on higher value added products to face competition globally. It may be noted that 62 per cent of the casting production is catered by China, European Union and US. The shortage of scrap and pig iron in EU continues to affect 150 PURCHASE September 2011
its cost of castings, forcing them to look to China and India for cost effective castings. The production of castings grew from 2.76 million MT in 97-98 to 7.77 million MT in 2007-08. This is a 300 per cent jump in production capacity in a decade. It was the growth in the automobile industry that provided the major thrust in the castings industry. Investment As per the estimates of Indian Institute of Foundrymen, India would need approximately US$3 billion in investment to meet the demand for the growing domestic industry. The industry also needs to equip itself to compete in the global platform. The medium and large industries have upgraded their plants and machinery. The reforms also encourage the privatization of industry enabling foreign companies to invest or enter into joint ventures with Indian foundries. FDI projects are permitted under the automatic approval process. Several international corporate houses from the US, EU and East Asia have increased overseas foundry operations in India like Volvo foundries in Chennai and Suzuki in Haryana. Sundaram Clayton has joined hands with Cummins. Hyundai Motors, Delphi, Ford India, Tata Cummins, GM and Ford have contracts for castings of approximately US$40 million. India enjoys a competitive advantage India has a major competitive advantage over the castings industry in the developed countries. Here the total labour cost is low compared to that of the US and EU. Here labour cost accounts for 12-15 per cent of the product cost. The Indian government has encouraged technology transfer through a joint venture (JV) with foreign companies. The foundry industry has an edge over China as well it is able to produce complex machine and precision castings as per international quality standards. The clusters in Belgaum, Coimbatore and Howrah are undergoing modernizati on under the industrial infrastructur e upgradation scheme. The exports outlook The export figures are also showing a healthy trend. The exports have been growing at the rate of 25-30 per cent every year. The exports for the year 08 and 09 were pegged at US$1.2 billion. The major destination of export of castings from India has been the US and the top export item in the US has been iron municipal castings (sanitary castings). However, over the last decade, the exports have diversified into automotive segment and the increase in exports is being contributed by the autosegment castings. EU is the current favourite destination for export of castings. As per EEPC, the export of automotive and industrial castings was US $633.22 million in 2008-09 while that of iron municipal castings (sanitary castings) was US $604.86 million. The Indian Forging Industry The Indian forging industry has gone through upgradation to be in sync with international practices. The revolution in the automotive sector helped this industry a great deal to adopt international best practices and go for equipment upgradation. There are four main sectors in the Indian forging industry -- large, medium, small and tiny. The industry is a highly fragmented one, with around 400 units, out of which only 9-10 are large units scattered all over India and about 100 are classified as medium and the rest are small or tiny. The unorganized players (who are mainly small and tiny units) cater mainly to the replacement market or Tier 3 or Tier 4 component manufacturers. A wide range of products are being manufactured, each having a diverse market structure and technology requirement. This has ensured that the market is not concentrated in the hands of a few. 152 PURCHASE September 2011
Industry Focus Mergers and acquisitions mark the trend Domestic consolidation has also not been happening in this industry. On the contrary, companies are trying to set up a global presence. There have been quite a few mergers and acquisitions overseas. These acquisitions have largely been in Europe and the US. That is primarily because the ancillary industries are on the verge of collapse. Companies like Amtek Auto, Bharat Forge, Sundram Fasteners and some others have also setup bases through mergers in other emerging economies to establish themselves as low cost suppliers. Growth trends The forging industry has been growing at the Compounded Annual Growth Rate of 29 per cent. On an average, exports contribute around 10 to 15 per cent of the industry production. The capacity of the industry is estimated to be around 1.5 million MT and the industry currently operates at around 70 per cent capacity utilization producing around 1.0 to 1.2 million MT of forgings. In the last quarter of 07-08, the capacity utilization declined by 50 per cent. This was due to the spiraling prices and high raw material costs. Costs of fuel and energy had also spiraled that year. The industry is becoming capital intensive. A major constraint facing the industry is the high cost of capital. Even the small-scale units are increasing the capital investment. The industry was previously more September 2011 PURCHASE 153
labour intensive but the productive efficiency of the workers has been improving lately because of shift from hammer to press forgings. It is closely estimated that the industry provides employment (direct and indirect) to about 2,00,000 people. More than around 65% of the companies in the forging employ less than 200 people. Source: AIFF Many of these industries are now suppliers to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the automobile sector. This speaks volumes about their efforts at technology and quality upgradation. The industry was previously more labour intensive but the productive efficiency of the workers has been improving Number of Units 400 Employment 200000 (Direct and Indirect) Investment US$700 Million approximately Capacity 1.5 Million M Tonnes/Year* Year Production Exports 2000-2001 435 90 2001-2002 382 110 2002-2003 440 145 2006-2007 983 360 2007-2008 1200** 432** A Quick Look Processes Followed The Indian forging industry uses all the different forging processes available worldwide. The following are the various processes used by the industry: closed forging, open forging, cold forging, roll forging, warm forging et al. Of these, the closed die forgings account for 61 per cent of the forging production, while open die forgings account for 16 per cent. The Indian industry has a capacity to produce 600 kg forgings in closed die forgings. The industry can also produce 13000 kg in open die forgings. The major importers of the Indian forging industry are the automotive industries in the Europe and US. The Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies in the United States and Europe are the main customers for forgings, the industry s continuous efforts in upgrading technologies and diversifying product range have enabled it to expand its base of customers. It is the automotive sector that is leading the growth of the forging industry. Through the looking glass This industry has serious environmental issues. With the green brigade influence on the rise and the global warming scenario having become a major international issue, the regulations for environmental controls are becoming stricter day by day. The cost of compliance is increasing, which is forcing the Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive component makers in EU and USA to shift the castings and forgings to Asia. This shift, which is also termed the KYOTO effect in the industry, has opened a lot of opportunities for the Indian castings and forgings industry, primarily because in India and China, the cost of compliance is quite low as compared to in the EU. There is definitely a cost advantage lately because of shift from hammer to press forgings. It is closely estimated that the industry provides employment (direct and indirect) to about 2,00,000 people. More than around 65 per cent of the companies in the forging industry employ less than 200 people. About 400 units in the organized sector together have a production capacity of about 1.5 million MT of forgings per year. 154 PURCHASE September 2011 as compared to the other European countries. The auto industry in India and China is on the upswing and all big producers are relocating their manufacturing in this region to be near the future biggest consumer markets.