According to a recent report by the North American Die Casting Association (Nadca), US magnesium die-casting shipments in 2014 were up 10.2% on 2013, due to strong growth in the automotive sector.

The report says: “The growth in magnesium die-casting comes as car makers continue to drive down the weight of vehicles to meet tough new emission standards, while a large proportion of die-casting capacity has migrated to Mexico in the wake of US anti-dumping duties on imports of magnesium metal.”

Speaking at the Die Casting Executive Conference 2015 in Florida, Nadca president Daniel Twarog said: “The rise in magnesium is driven by the increase in usage in cars.

We attribute the strength in automotive to the fact that consumers are not spending as much money on housing, because the market is ‘upside down’ at the moment and people are ‘under water’ with their mortgages. As
a result, consumers with cash to spend are putting their money towards other ‘big ticket’ items — like cars.

“Lower crude prices are also helping to spur the car market, and this is expected to help make the first quarter stronger than originally forecast for die-casters. The additional consumer income freed up by lower crude prices could also help to underpin the household-appliance market this year, particularly for items such as ‘smart’ refrigerators.”

Nadca figures also show that shipments in the US aluminium die-casting industry increased by 6.0% in 2014 compared with 2013 — below Nadca’s forecast of 6.8% shipment growth. However, zinc die-casting shipments surpassed the association’s forecast of 5.1% and grew by 8.53%.