Engineering a Modern Domestic Die-Casting Sector (16/8)
16/08/2011 - 16 Lượt xem
Thanks to government support policies, the Vietnamese die-casting sector has obtained significant growth. Die-casting products have been exported to South East Asia and other countries. Export products include separate die-casting products (with export revenue of more than US$1.4 million in 2010) and die-casting components for diesel engines (with export revenue of US$35-40 million in 2010), pumps and combined harvesters. In addition, Vietnam has also exported cast iron abrasion and heat resistant components for the cement production sector and the metallurgy sector.
However, experts think that Vietnamese die-casting products can not meet domestic demand. Major products are cast iron, cast steel for the mechanical engineering sector, alloy steel and cast iron which are resistant against abrasion serving mining and construction sectors. Other products have to be imported from other countries. Therefore, the trade deficit for the die-casting sector is increasing. The domestic die-casting sector is dominated by foreign companies. Domestic business market share has been narrowed.
According to Pham Anh Tuan, in producing steel billet, an important stage in the mechanical engineering sector, domestic businesses use out-moded technology, therefore the product quality is low and there is a high percentage of waste. Domestic businesses lack experience in producing highly accurate, high quality products and are failing to meet market demand. Heat treatment stages to deal with the product surfaces have not been improved, having a negative impact on product quality. In addition, domestic businesses use backward machinery with a low level of automation technology in the cutting stage, thus producing lower accuracy.
Pham Anh Tuan said that Vietnam still lacks modern factories which act as centers for specialization and international cooperation. Meanwhile, this plays an important role in the mechanical engineering sector and support industries.
Meanwhile, the demand for die-casting products remains very large. In 2010-2020, the mechanical engineering and transport sector had huge demand for die-cast products. It is estimated that the mechanical engineering sector needs about 689,000 tonnes in 2020 to produce machines in the fields of agro-forestry and fisheries, food processing and construction. The transport sector needs 817,000 tonnes of die-cast products to produce cars, motorbikes and trains. Other industries such as electricity generation, metallurgy, mining, cement, ship-building and irrigation also have large demand for these products. It is estimated that the domestic market will require almost 1.93 million tonnes in 2020 and 2.5 million tonnes in 2025. In next 5-10 years, cast iron components and aluminum alloy components with high accuracy to serve transport and mechanical engineering sectors will see strong development.
Apart from domestic market, the die-casting sector has large export markets. Director general of the Sai Gon Industrial Corporation Nguyen Huu Tho said that Japan and the Republic of Korea alone import hundreds of thousands of high quality die-cast products. North America also needs large numbers of these products. Despite being the leading country in producing die-cast products, demand in the US remains huge. To meet demand, every year, the country has to import 20 percent of its die-cast products. However, export markets have high technical requirements for die-cast products. Steel billets for the mechanical engineering sector must be high quality, have good surfaces and high accuracy. In addition, those products must guarantee chemical substances and physico-mechanical properties.
To promote the die-casting sector, Pham Ba Kiem from the National Institute of Mining, Metallurgy Science and Technology, said that it is necessary to build a system of businesses which use advanced technology towards specialization to serve all industries or a large area. In addition, a number of satellite businesses will be established to support those businesses. There is a need to invest in technology to improve product quality, lower prices and protect the environment. An institute should be established to supply information and apply advanced technology to produce products with high quality and high economic value. Through this Vietnamese die-casting products will be able to compete against the same products from other countries in the region./.
Source: VEN.
