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Scrambling
Up the Value Chain:
The
Foundry Industry in Portugal
If you look at total casting production for
1999, you might think the business in Portugal is experiencing
slight growth -- an increase in tonnage of just under 3% vs.
1998.
Jump in Value --
However, there is a significant change going on beneath the
numbers. According to CastingTrade.com estimates, Portugal
experienced a strong movement toward higher value in its mix
of castings. Based on our methods, we estimate the value of
the casting mix was 12% greater in 1999 than in 1998, principally
due to increases in non-ferrous production (38% overall).
This resulted in an estimated 11% in overall value of casting
production.
This is a sharp jump after several years of
weak increases in value and overall output. CastingTrade.com's
approach to estimating the value of national casting production
is discussed in "Shifts in Global
Casting in 1999."
What else do you need to know about casting
in Portugal?
Porto: Center of the
Casting Industry -- The average Portugese foundry employs
about 60 people. This is not so different than the U.S., where
the majority of foundries employ less than 100 people. And,
just as the U.S. industry is heavily concentrated in one geographic
region -- the Midwest -- over 70% of Portugal's foundry's
are in the North, in the region surrounding the city of Porto.
(There is a second, smaller, concentration surrounding Lisbon,
in the south.)
Overall, Portugal has about 120 foundries.
(Forty-four of them can be found on the CastingTrade.com World
Foundry Guide.)
According to M. Botelho Chaves, General Secretary
of the Portugese Foundry Association, there are two technical
centers. CINFU (Centro de Formacao Profissional da Industria
de Fundicao) is the training center for the foundry industry.
In addition, INEGI (Instituto nacional de Engenharia e Gestao
Industrial) is the national R&D institute.
There is a Foundry Congress every two years,
and the casting industry is also incorporated in three other
annual exhibitions.
10% Rule -- It
seems natural to ask: how does the industry in Portugal stack
up to that of its neighbor, Spain? In terms of volume of castings
output, Portugal produces just about 10% of the tonnage produced
by Spain. (This brings to mind the "10% rule," often used
in making estimates for the size of industries in Canada vs.
the United States . . . although, in fact, Canada's output
of castings was closer to 7% of the U.S. figure in 1999.)
A quick check of auto production statistics : Portugal produces
roughly 250,000 cars and trucks annually -- about one-tenth
of the production in Spain.
Portugal's castings output has been steadier,
following a weak period in the early '80s, while Spain's output
has fluctuated much more widely. In addition, the tendency
of Spain's casting mix has been directly opposite that of
Portugal in the last year. While this fact tends to get obscured
in the enormous volume increases Spain achieved in 1999 vs.
1998, the lion's share of Spain's volume increases came in
lower value iron castings, so that, percentage-wise, its production
of steel and non-ferrous castings actually decreased.
Room to Grow --
But, compared with Spain, Portugal's casting industry looks
like it still has room to expand. Portugal's population, at
10 million, and its GDP, at $127 billion annually, are both
more in the range of 20-25% of that of Spain. (Will the leading
wedge be an effort to increase share of auto production .
. . ?)
In addition to the auto industry, the leading
end-users for Portugal's castings are machinery and railways.
FOR MORE INFORMATION,
PLEASE CONTACT:
M. Botelho Chaves
General Secretary
Portugese Foundry Association
Associacao Portuguesa de Fundicao
Rua do Campo Alegre 672-2, Esq.,
P-4100
Porto
Portugal
Phone: (00 35 12) 6 09 06 75
Fax: (00 35 12) 6 00 07 64
e-mail address: apf@esoterica.pt
View list of profiles of
other countries.
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