Global auto magnesium alloy consumption up 49% YOY

Global automotive magnesium alloy industry in recent years is getting out of the shadow of the financial crisis and magnesium price skyrocketing, both production and consumption have been restored. Favorable factors such as the rapid recovery of American and Japanese automobile industry, the upgrading of product structure of China's automotive industry, international magnesium-aluminum price ratio back to less than 1.3, and the lightweight of vehicle all have provided impetus for the rebound of automotive magnesium alloy market. In 2012, the global automotive magnesium alloy consumption reached 214,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. During this period, China with rich magnesium resources and a huge automotive industry has become a hot spot for investments in the industry.

After 2008, affected by the increased tax rate of magnesium alloy exports as well as the rapid development of automobile industry, China's automotive magnesium alloy industry showed contrarian growth against the financial crisis worldwide, thus changing the previous situation that domestic magnesium alloy auto parts mainly relied on imports. In 2012 China's capacity of magnesium alloy auto parts reached 47,000 tons/a, and the demand over the corresponding period was 45,000 tons, a basic balance between supply and demand. However, as a great number of automotive magnesium alloy producers in China are the new entrants with weak technical reserves and products concentrated in the middle and low ends, high-end automotive magnesium alloys still depend on imports.

In nowadays China, joint venture branded vehicles occupy the main medium- and high-end market, which is precisely the most important consumer market for automotive magnesium alloy. These automakers are extremely concerned about the supply quality and stability of automotive magnesium alloy, which is also the basic literacy that some new manufacturers lack. For these reasons, magnesium alloy parts used in joint venture branded vehicles are often provided by regular suppliers, which increasingly becomes an obstacle to the development of new entrants. Moreover, products of Chinese firms are mostly concentrated in magnesium alloy wheel, steering wheel and other several products, with relatively single variety and narrow coverage, which to some extent also limits their development.

In China, following the structural upgrade of automobile industry, a step-by-step increase in the proportion of medium- and high-end cars, the clearer trend of automotive lightweight, the gradually improved production technology of automotive magnesium alloy, coupled with the effect of cancelling magnesium alloy export duties in January 2013 by China Customs, the demand for automotive magnesium alloy is expected to achieve sustained growth in future.

In addition to a detailed analysis on the development status of the global and China automotive magnesium alloy industry, this report also highlights the automotive magnesium alloy business of five multinational companies i.e. Meridian, STOLFIG, TAKATA, Autoliv and GF as well as 21 domestic companies e.g. Nanjing Yunhai Special Metals Co., Ltd., DongGuan EONTEC Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Meridian Magnesium Products Co., Ltd..

In response to the financial crisis, Meridian as the global automotive magnesium alloy industry leader has implemented strategic adjustment in industrial distribution since 2009, which has significantly improved capacity in key areas. In 2011, Meridian expanded operations in the UK and raised the capacity of local factories twice that of 2010. In May, 2012, the production capacity of Meridian's joint venture in Shanghai, China saw an increase of 20%; followed by another rise of 30% in early 2013.

Beijing Guangling Jinghua Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (also known as “Gonleer”) is one of the major automotive magnesium alloy manufacturers in China. By 2004, the company has completed theNike Jordan Super Fly 5