An article on Yahoo News recently touched on this idea, discussing 10 American industries just barely scraping by. One of the industries the article mentioned was sparkler production. According to the article, only one sparkler manufacturer is left in America. If sparklers, another icon of Independence Day, can’t survive in the U.S., how can any U.S. industry expect to stay afloat?
 

Nevertheless, MODERN CASTING census data shows the U.S. is still holding its own in casting production- it is still the world’s second largest producer of castings.
 

But with China having taken over as the world’s largest producer of castings in the past decade, will the metalcasting industry burn out much like the sparkler industry? Probably not. The industry still operates more than 2,000 facilities producing more than 12 million tons of castings per year. While the industry did take a hit in 2008 because of the recession, what industry didn’t have to make adjustments? If metalcasting facilities are still alive- thriving at an average of 73% capacity- despite China moving into the industry leader position and the recession, then it looks like the U.S. casting industry is here to stay.