Development Status and Trends of China's Mold Industry

Mold is the basic process equipment for industrial production, known as the "mother of industry". According to the "2014-2018 China Mold Manufacturing Industry Production and Sales Demand Forecast and Transformation and Upgrading Analysis Report" released by Forward Industry Research Institute, 75% of rough processed industrial product parts and 50% of precision processed parts in China's current molds are formed by molds, and the vast majority of plastic products are also formed by molds. As a fundamental industry of the national economy, molds are involved in various industries such as machinery, automobiles, light industry, electronics, chemical industry, metallurgy, and building materials, with a wide range of applications. The time for mold design and production in Europe is about 44% and 61% faster than in China, respectively, but the cost of mold design and production in China is only 91% of that in Europe. At present, the international mold industry is fiercely competitive. In the past two years, the overall price of German molds has decreased by about 1/4, and 58% of molds worldwide are produced by Western European countries such as Germany, with only a very small proportion from Asian countries such as China. But currently, there is a significant increase in mold production in Eastern Europe, and the production scale in Asia will also increase to about one-fifth. The mold industry in our country has also entered a period of rapid development, but there are still many problems that exist

In the past decade, China's mold industry has been rapidly developing at an annual growth rate of 15%. During the 15th Five Year Plan period, the annual growth rate of China's mold industry reached 20%. In 2005, the sales of molds reached 61 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25%, ranking third in the world; The significant increase in mold exports indicates an improvement in the level and competitiveness of molds. According to customs statistics, mold exports reached 740 million US dollars in 2005, a year-on-year increase of over 50%; The structure of mold products is becoming more high-end, and the share of complex, precise, and long-life molds has increased to 30%. At present, there are more than 30000 mold manufacturers in China, with over 800000 employees and an annual mold output value of 53.4 billion yuan. A group of leading figures in the mold industry have emerged, such as FAW Mold in the field of automotive coverings, Giant Wheel Mold in the tire field, Haier in the plastic mold field, and Shengdu in the module standard parts field; Many places have introduced policies to support the development of the local mold industry, such as Chongqing, Chengdu, Suzhou, Dalian and other places are establishing mold industrial parks to improve the development environment and perfect the supporting system for mold production. The rapid development of the Chinese economy has put forward increasingly high requirements for the mold industry and provided tremendous impetus for its development.

The development of China's mold industry is uneven in terms of regional distribution, with the southeast coastal region developing faster than the central and western regions. The development in the south is faster than that in the north. The most concentrated mould production areas are in the the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta, whose mould output value accounts for more than two-thirds of the national output value.   In 2004, Guangdong Province's mold industry firmly held the top position in the national mold industry, with an output value of 18.5 billion yuan. The mold manufacturing industry accounted for more than 40% of the country's output value and sales revenue. Currently, Guangdong has 5 of the top 10 enterprises in the country, including the world's largest mold supplier and Asia's largest mold manufacturing plant. The mold industry in Shenzhen has developed rapidly, with a scale advantage and an annual output value of over 10 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 60% of the mold industry in Guangdong Province and nearly 25% of the national mold industry. It has become a domestic mold manufacturing center.

The market space for molds in our country is huge. In 2006, domestic automobiles maintained a growth rate of 15%, with sales expected to reach 6.4 million units. The market for automotive parts is even larger than that of complete vehicles, and the rapid development of the mold industry, which provides equipment for automotive parts, is evident. A model of car requires thousands of molds. Among them, there are hundreds of sets of casting molds. The automotive industry is one of the five pillar industries of China's national economy, with a focus on developing components, economical sedans, and heavy-duty vehicles. Automotive molds, as a development priority, have been recognized in the automotive industry policies. In 2005, the information industry achieved a sales revenue of 3.4 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27%. The growth rate of IT products such as mobile phones, televisions, and computers was significant, and IT molds will still be in short supply. In addition, the demand for small household appliances, agricultural machinery, food machinery, and new building materials is high, so the related mold industry will also develop rapidly.

At present, although the total production of molds in China ranks third in the world, the overall level of design and manufacturing lags far behind countries such as Germany and the United States, as well as countries such as South Korea and Singapore. Moreover, the domestic mold market has fallen into the trap of price wars too early and lacks the ability for independent innovation, especially a trustworthy and reliable market system.   The supply of molds with low technological content in our country has exceeded demand, and the market profit margin is narrow; However, high-end molds with high technological content are still far from meeting the needs of economic development. Precise and complex stamping molds, car cover mold and other high-end molds still have a lot of room for development. In recent years, the pace of structural adjustment in the mold industry has accelerated, mainly manifested in the development speed of large, precision, complex, long-life molds and mold standard parts being higher than the overall development speed of the industry; The proportion of plastic molds and die-casting molds increases; The number and capabilities of professional mold manufacturers facing the market have increased rapidly. The future development direction of Chinese automotive mold companies should focus on adjusting and positioning product structure, further improving the manufacturing technology level of molds, and occupying the high-end mold market with complex structure, high precision, and high technical content