The foundries in operation in Sri Lanka have the production capabilities of grey iron casting, ductile iron casting, aluminum, brass and steel castings. Major types of foundries in Sri Lanka, are

Brass,
Bronze,
Aluminum
Cast iron

 

Foundry is generally considered as one of the most important supporting industries in Sri Lanka for a number of major industries such as automobiles, machines and machine tools, and agricultural industries.

In addition to supplying of vital components of various engineering products to tea & rubber industries, it also supplies a wide range of directly exportable metal products.

Although mainly catering to the local market it has a high export potential. The industry at present exports few foundry products.

 

The metal casting industry uses molten metal to form cast metal products and components used in a wide variety of manufactured products. The largest uses of cast metal products include motor vehicles, ingot molds that are re melted later, pipes, industrial machines, farm equipment, railroad equipment, electric power equipment, and construction materials. Important distinctions within the industry revolve around the type of metal used (ferrous or nonferrous), the volume of castings produced (high volume production in the nonferrous sector is often done using a die-casting process), and the degree of precision required in the cast piece.
The present structure of the foundry industry is as follows:

(a)

YEAR

Brass

Aluminum

Cast Iron

1975

4972

120

70

1985

4043

70

63

2002

3702

65

38

Employment

(No.)

Direct formal industry-           10,000

Direct informal industry-        25,000

(b)

Type

Number

Volume

Large scale 

6

One Tonne & above

Medium Scale 

8-10

101kg<01Tonne

Small Scale

9-11

10kg < 100kg

The available capacity of annual production is about 100,000 tonnes, at present the maximum utilization is around 20.000 tonnes. Hence the industry uses only 20% of its capacity.  The HS numbers are ....................
 
 

VALUE OF EXPORTS OF ENGINEERING PRODUCTS (1997-2006)
 

YEAR

VALUE/Rs..MN

1997

13,702

1998

13,496

1999

15360

2000

17,507

2001

21,055

2002

26,175

2003

32,952

2004

48,393

2005

49,227

2006

54,094
 

Source: Sri Lanka Customs Returns/Product Management Division, EDB
 
 

MAJOR PRODUCTS ENGINEERING PRODUCTS (2005-2006)
 

COMMODITY NAME

2005

2006

IRON/STEEL IN PRIMARY AND SEMI-PROCESSED FORMS

             1,134.97

         427.83

FERRO-ALLOYS

                     0.03

             0.53

IRON/STEEL WIRE

                 188.09

         118.28

TUBES, PIPES, HOLLOW PROFILES & FITTINGS OF IRON/STEEL

                 116.17

         169.14

INDUSTRIAL CASTINGS

                     2.39

             0.31

MISC ARTICLES OF IRON/STEEL

             1,149.84

         966.23

TABLEWARE/KITCHENWARE, SIMILAR PRODUCTS

                   22.72

           19.09

NON-FERROUS METALS (EXCL ALUMINIUM)  AND PRODUCTS THEREOF

           16,558.85

   11,816.01

ALUMINIUM AND PRODUCTS THEREOF

                   66.21

           99.47

HAND TOOLS

                   40.59

         220.16

TOOLS IMPLEMENTS ETC OF BASE METAL EXCL HAND TOOLS

                 274.92

         437.15

 MACHINERY (EXCL ELECTRICAL)  AND MECHANICAL APPLIANCES

             6,225.88

     5,850.68

POWER GENERATION EQUIPTMENT AND PARTS

                   12.24

             3.55

I C PISTON ENGINES AND PARTS

                 329.10

           37.47

 PUMPS

                   42.54

           32.53

MACHINE TOOLS

                 318.79

         173.96

ELECTRICAL MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT

             7,115.27

   12,379.59

RAILWAY/TRAMWAY LOCOMOTIVES, ROLLING STOCK AND PARTS

                     0.20

             2.11

MOTOR VEHICLES (INCL TRACTORS) AND PARTS

             1,860.42

     2,615.04

MOTORCYCLES, BICYCLES, OTHER SIMILAR CARRIAGES AND PARTS

             1,253.32

     2,049.83

OTHER TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT INCL AIRCRAFT, SPACECRAFT, VESSELS ETC

             7,095.41

     9,033.90

INSTRUMENTS, APPARATUS, PARTS AND ACCESSORIES

          1,164.69

     2,556.92 

MISC. ENGINEERING PRODUCTS

4,254.15

5,084.58

TOTAL

49,226.81

54,094.36

Source: Sri Lanka Customs Returns/Product Management Division, EDB
 

Sri Lanka’s total export of Light Engineering products has increased from 13,702 Rs.MN  in 1997  to 54,094 RS.MN in 2006.  The major markets for Sri Lankan Engineering products are Germany, Netherlands, India and U.K.   The products with potential for export are iron steel products, copper articles, tools and equipment etc.