AMU: Cascade Die Casting to expand North Carolina site

CDC Atlantic already houses 13 die-casting machines (ranging from 900 to 1,600 tons), three on-site furnaces, and shot blasting capabilities.

In 2021, it melted more than 10 million pounds of aluminum – over 4,500 metric tons – even during a period marked by supply chain bottlenecks and a subdued automotive market.

That level of output drawn from a likely underutilized year, signals that the nameplate capacity could be even higher.

Adding notches to a manufacturing belt

CDC’s High Point plant is well-placed within a North Carolina industrial pocket.

Daimler North America’s Thomas Built Buses’ manufacturing site is just down the road, and other key Daimler subsidiaries – including a Gastonia Components operation and Freightliner’s largest manufacturing plant – are within reach as well.

Caterpillar has nearby plants in Winston-Salem, Clayton, and Sanford. And GKN’s automotive footprint is within a couple of hours of CDC Atlantic.

In short, Cascade is in the right operating radius, even if the hub’s stated purpose is to serve the southeastern US and Mexico.

Where A380 and A413 fit

CDC Atlantic casts A380 and A413 secondary alloys, both die-cast grades synonymous with the automotive market.

No alloy is more emblematic of the secondary casting market than A380, while A413, by contrast, serves a more niche role, commonly used in cylinder head and piston production as well as other high-pressure hydraulic applications.

US A380 output topped 200,000 metric tons in 2024, according to the US Geological Survey, compared to A413 which fell under a broader category of secondary die-cast alloys representing about 13% of die-cast production over the same period.

CDC’s implied melting capacity would place it close to 1.5%-2.0% of national die-cast production, excluding sand and permanent mold processes, with output trending toward the upper end of that range. While 2% may sound modest, when spread across more than 225 casting sites in the US, it’s a meaningful slice – especially considering the figure is likely a conservative estimate, with actual throughput potentially exceeding those totals.

Cascade’s bet on High Point reinforces the trend that scrap-fed die-castings are still a prevalent part of automotive aluminum, despite recurring bottlenecks and muted production levels. The High Point facility, in particular, is also positioned within a manufacturing corridor dense with OEMs that service the commercial vehicle sector – arguably the segment where light-weighting remains a top design priority.

This piece was first published by SMU’s sister publication, Aluminum Market Update. To learn about AMU, visit their website, or sign up for a free trial.