China die and mould sales develop in 2015
Sales revenue of China die and mould industry in 2015 reached RMB171.8bn, (~ $27.3bn calculated based on the average exchange rate), up 5.1% over 2014. The sales revenue growth of approximately 200 key die and mould enterprises in this industry (including more than 30 listed companies) averaged almost 12%, and the sales income of most medium-sized enterprises equaled or grew a little more than the previous year. Many small-sized enterprises, affected by the influence of the slowing growth of Chinese manufacturing industry and the radical increasing of market competition, operate at a loss.
In 2015, China's die and mould export was $5.08bn, up 3.3% over 2014, with plastic mould accounting for 66.6%, sheetmetal stamping die 17.96% and the total of the two accounting for 84.56%. The main export target countries and in 2015 territories (the top ten ranked in the sequence of export volume) were China Hong Kong (transit trade), the US, Japan, Germany, India, Thailand, Mexico, Vietnam, France and the U.K., the main export target countries and territories (the top ten ranked in the sequence of export volume) in 2014 were Hong Kong, China (transit trade), the US, Japan, Germany, India, Thailand, Vietnam, the U.K., Mexico and Spain. The significant change is that France now ranks 9th, and Spain drops out of the top ten.
In 2015, dies and moulds with a total value of $2.49bn were imported, of which 46.42% was accounted for by plastic moulds, 40.33% by sheetmetal stamping dies, making a total of 86.75% for the two. Imports (the top ten ranked in the sequence of import volume) came from Korea, Japan, Germany, the customs territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, the US, Canada, Spain, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.
The "reshoring" trend in countries like the US?
The "return of manufacture industry" is connected but not fully consistent with "return of die & mould manufacture". The phenomena of “return of mould manufacture” is occurring in Japan and Korea, and particularly in Japan one part of the mould manufacture industry returns to Japan, the other part transfers to the countries and territories outside of mainland China.
The rise of China production costs
Because moulds are considered to be production equipment, not an end product, the mould market scale is determined by the development of the manufacturing industry. Though the growth rate of China's manufacturing industry is slowing down, it is still positive; in particular, the accelerating product renewal rate of large mould users leads to increased demand for moulds. The rise in production cost (mainly labour cost) has little influence on the domestic market of China's mould industry. The rise in production costs is one of the many reasons for slowing export growth of moulds made in China, but it is not the main reason.
A recent study conducted by WBA in Aachen says that "China will have a key role in the world of tooling in future. The fact that internationally competitive companies with a high level of competence could evolve confirms the positive outlook for the development of the tool and dies manufacturing industry in China."
According to ETMM-Online