A Global Industry

More than 110 mil­lion tons of cast­ing are pro­duced annu­ally and demand is con­tinu­ing to grow.

The European Foundry Industry at a Glance

The iron, steel and mal­le­able foundries of the CAEF mem­ber states pro­duce ca. 12.3 m. tons of cast­ings per year. The pro­duc­tion weight increases by 1.3 % yoy. The six coun­tries that dom­in­ate the industry in terms of weight, namely Ger­many, Tur­key, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, account for 84.6 % of the pro­duc­tion of fer­rous metal cast­ings.

Non-fer­rous metal foundries in the CAEF mem­ber states book a pro­duc­tion increase of 5.1 % and a pro­duc­tion of round­about 4.5 m. tons. In the coun­tries that dom­in­ate the pro­duc­tion of non-fer­rous metal cast­ings, namely Ger­many and Italy, the out­put account for 48.3 % of the total volume.

The share of cast iron with lamel­lar graph­ite in the out­put total of iron and steel cast­ings is 50 %. Cor­res­pond­ingly, the share of ductile cast iron is slightly higher (43.7%). The steel sec­tor logs a share of 6.4 %.

The pro­duc­tion of cast­ings made of non-fer­rous metal alloys is dom­in­ated by light metals. The share is 87.7 %.

World Foundry Industry 

+112.7 M tons metal cast­ings pro­duced glob­ally
16,8 M tons of world pro­duc­tion cas­ted in CAEF
Note that light metals are included

10.8 M tons
in US

16.8 M tones

13.4 M tones
in India

49.4 M tones
in China

5.6 M tones
in Japan

Foundry Industry In Europe By Num­bers



Num­ber of metal cast­ing facil­it­ies in Europe.



Per­cent­age of firms that are small busi­nesses
(less than 50 employ­ees).



Num­ber of people employed by the Europe foundry industry.



Foundries recruits each year.



Num­ber of people employed in sup­plier indus­tries.


43 Bil­lion €

Value of cast­ings pro­duced in Europe.


8 Bil­lion €

Gross Value Added.

General Secretariat
CAEF - The European Foundry Association

Hansaallee 203
40549 Düsseldorf

tel: +49 (0)211 6871 217
fax: +49 (0)211 6871 40217
e-mail: info@caef.eu