China’s mould & die industry impacted by the economic meltdown

Since 2000, China's mould & die industry has grown by 15% annually on average, with its total output value ranking in the world's third place. The 2009 economic meltdown exerted a negative influence on China's mould industry: the annual output was no more than 9.7 mln sets with a y-o-y decrease of 24.8%, while the export of mould contributed US$1.843 bln, down 4.11% y-o-y, as per research and markets. In terms of product structure, mid-and-low-grade products dominate China's mould market and face the problem of overcapacity while large high precision products are fewer. Plastic moulds and stamping moulds are major products in the domestic market. In terms of market share, the plastic mould holds 34% in China while it is 40% or more in developed countries. Thus it has yet to be increased in this regard. In terms of demand structure, moulds have been widely applied in many industries such as auto, home appliance, instrument, petrochemical, and light industrial goods. In particular, the auto industry has the greatest demand for moulds, followed by the home appliance industry. With the application of computer and network technologies, the mould demand in the IT industry is expected to boom. In terms of regional distribution, China has formed a regional mould pattern that the development of southeast costal area is faster than that of mid-west areas, while the development of South China is prior to North China Moreover, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta are the most concentrated areas for mould manufacturing, accounting for more than two thirds of China's total. In terms of the development of provinces and municipalities, Guangdong boasts China's largest base for mould production and export. About 40% moulds of the country are from Guangdong. Mould orders of Guangdong shrunk in 2009 due to the financial crisis, while the mould output decreased by 17% to 1.655 million sets. Zhejiang province takes a lion's share in manufacturing plastic moulds; Shanghai concentrates on auto moulds and IT moulds; Hebei province contributes one tenth of China's auto moulds, with Botou as its core production base. In terms of trade structure, trade deficit dropped progressively in China's mould industry. With the increasingly balanced import-export structure, the proportion turned into 1.1:1 in 2009 from 2.8:1 in 2005. And the mould export market has expanded from Hong Kong, the United States and Japan to Brazil, South Korea and Vietnam. In terms of business pattern, China's mould industry has always been monopolized by foreign enterprises, private enterprises and state-owned companies. Recent years have seen more and more foreign companies pouring into China, private enterprises growing up and state-owned companies gradually quitting.