The Global Investment Casting Sector

Dean Group have been offering investment casting services for many years. This key manufacturing process allows for the production of parts for a wide range of industries and sectors, so it has a wealth of applications that makes it highly sought-after.

While it’s true that investment casting requires upfront investment, be it from a skilled labour perspective, high quality raw materials or expensive machinery, its benefits make it worth it in the long run. After all, by investing in the process and creating increasingly better products, it’s expected that new opportunities in the market will be created.

In fact, the investment casting market is already on the rise.

Investment casting has continued to grow rapidly in North America, as developments in defence and aerospace require the use of this technique.

The growth of the industrial sector in the Asia-Pacific region is a big contributor to the investment casting market, as is the growing demand for complex parts in the aerospace and military sectors. Other contributing factors for a rising demand in investment casting are product innovations, higher levels of disposable income and technological innovations.

In the automotive industry, the need for more advanced parts and components, like engines and gearboxes, is boosting demand as well.

The Asia-Pacific region also dominates the aluminium investment casting market, with China in the lead as its key manufacturer. This area is expected to continue growing due to business expansion and customer awareness. Japan is also at the forefront of aluminium casting, as its automotive industry is benefiting from the lightweight properties of aluminium, as well as its strength.

In Europe, Germany is a key player in aluminium investment casting, especially due to the rise in lightweight materials that drive the energy and automotive sectors.

There are several obstacles to the growth of investment casting in the UK, which are tied to challenges the industry is going through. This includes Brexit – considering innovation is one of the main drivers of investment casting growth, as mentioned above, it’s important that the government take this into account when creating worldwide trade deals.

This is especially true when we put things into perspective and consider that, just in the automotive sector, the UK exports vehicles to more than 160 countries around the world. This is equivalent to the export of 81.5% of all vehicles manufactured in Britain – the EU accounted for 6% of this number.

At the moment, the UK is seeking to establish new international trading relationships after leaving the EU, which has around 40 preferential trade deals with access to, approximately, 70 markets currently in place.

One of the government’s new measures was designed to ensure the UK doesn’t lag behind when it comes to innovation, so they are looking to create a special visa to fast-track talent to the UK after Brexit. This will mean that the world’s best scientists and researchers will be accelerated through the UK visa application process. The initiative will start on 20 February and is backed by several organisations, such as the UK Research and Innovation and the Department for Business.

The global market for investment casting is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of, approximately, 3.6% over the next five years. It’s also expected to reach £19 billion by 2024. These staggering figures only serve to show just how important investment casting is for the manufacturing industry, as well as for the economy of both the UK and the world.

Our state-of-the-art investment casting process allows Dean Group to create a wide array of complex shapes and designs at our UK-based manufacturing company, always with the highest possible quality in mind. Get in touch to learn more; our friendly team will be more than happy to help!