Sintered component production in Asia-Oceania

The last 3 years of the last millennium were quite depressing in the industrial scene in the Asia-Oceania region. An unprecedented fall in the value of East Asian currencies was witnessed, leading to catastrophic results in the money market, and the resultant gloom in the industry circles. India witnessed a change in government, nuclear test, sanctions and resultant effect on industry. India had planned to enter into the new millennium with an ambitious growth in the automotive sector, a whopping 35% when other countries in the Asia-Oceania region were conservative in predicting their own growth rates at around 15–18%. Hence, there were grave doubts about realising these projections. The last year of the last millennium has shown promises of the industry revival. All of this is very relevant to the powdered metal (P/M) product manufacturer as the P/M industry is heavily dependent on the good health of the automotive industry. The automotive industry uses 70–75% of the P/M products produced. In addition, the P/M structural parts form almost 60% of the full range of P/M products. Hence, there is an intimate relationship between the growth of the P/M industry and the growth in the production of P/M structural parts. This paper looks at the opportunities for growth in P/M structural parts business in the new millennium, particularly in the Asia-Oceania region.