Good monsoon strengthens overall forging industry sentiments

Association of Indian forging industry gears up to host the first edition of India’s biggest bi-annual conference cum exhibition Forgetech 2016
Chandigarh, August 2, 2016: Snapshot: Indian Forging Industry: Indian Forging Industry is one of the key players in the auto component manufacturing sector and a major contributor to the Government’s Make in India initiative. Currently, the industry apart from catering to the automotive, solar, aerospace, railways and wind sectors, it also plays a key role in contributing to the forex by way of huge exports. As per the survey conducted by AIFI in 2016, the estimated turnover of the 384 forging units operating in FY 2014-15 was INR 27,835 crore including INR 6,100 crore contributed from exports, providing employment to approximately 100,000 people in the country. The report also suggests that investment in plant & machinery also increased from INR 15,500 crore in FY 2013-2014 to INR 27,833 crore in FY 2014-2015. Overall production of forgings increased from 21.1 Lakh MT to 22.5 Lakh MT in 2014-15 and the production figure for 2015-16 is estimated around 24.5 Lakh MT.
Northern region scenario
The highly fragmented forging industry consists of close to 384units across India.The northernregion forging hub concentrated around Ludhiana, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon and has close to 146 units majorly in the SME and tiny forging space. With an installed capacity of around 13.2 MT, the northern region caters largely to the export and domestic OE requirements.Around 34 % of the overall production of forging industry is contributed by this region.
Commenting on the current Industry scenario Mr. Ranbir Singh President, Association of Indian Forging Industry, said, “With a favorable monsoon season coupled with government’s thrust on rural development, especially on irrigation programmes and farmers’ welfare will definitely lead to improved buyer sentiment that would bring buoyancy in overall demand across all segments of the automotive industry. Also with the government key focus on developing rural infrastructure and thrust on boosting the overall agriculture sector, tractor sales are expected to steer up domestically in the northern belt providing necessary impetus to the forging industry.”
Distressed rural demand over last two years had resulted in decline in volume growth for commercial vehicle sector. Potential revival in rural demand amid improving farm incomes would provide astimulus to volume and revenue growth of CV companies, thereby improving profitability of forging companies as this sector is one of the major contributor to this segment.
According to the latest reports the Commercial Vehicles has reported ¬¬¬¬ 13.75 per cent increase in total sales in last three months (April- June 2016) at 2.05 lakh units as against 1.75 lakhunits in the same period last year.
Building a global platform:Forgetech India 2016
As a governing body for forging industry, AIFI has always been on the forefrontof improving the business environment for its members and contribute in increasing their competitiveness through mutual co-operation and understanding of all parties concerned and constant updating of information and technology
This year, to commemorate 50-year old journey of the forging association, AIFI is organizing the biggest biennial conference-cum-exhibition, Forgetech India 2016. This forum intends to bring together the entire forging industry and other allied industries on a common platform to share, demonstrate and exchange ideas. The objective behind this initiative by AIFI is to put together an ideal platform for understanding the latest trends in the forging industry worldwide, exchange ideas, information and experiences, benchmarking their company with the industry stalwarts, networking and being updated on latest developments in forging technologies.
Sharing his thoughts, Mr. Ranbir Singh, President, Association of Indian Forging Industry, said, “It is our indeed pleasure to announce the first chapter of India’s biggest bi-annual conference cum exhibitionForgetech India 2016in New Delhi from 3rd -4th December 2016 on completion of AIFI’s 50 glorious years. Thisfirst-of-its-kind industry initiative will be a platform to discuss and share knowledge, insights, environment and economic trends and best practices to uplift and upgrade our facilities and productivity.Another focus area is to utilize this event to bring industry and academia together for building awareness and greater understanding of the industry scope and opportunities. The response so far has been overwhelming with over 30 sponsoring companies.”