Rubber & tire industry in numbers

PROJECTS / RESTRUCTURING

PROJECTS

Cabot Corp. has resumed an 80ktpa rubber blacks expansion project at its site in Cilegon, Indonesia: it suspended the project in 2020. The new capacity is expected on-line by mid-2025.

China’s Zodo Tire is constructing a planned tire manufacturing facility in Sin Bavet Special Economic Zone, in the southeastern Cambodian province of Svay Reing. Last March, Zodo disclosed plans to build a tire manufacturing plant in Cambodia with an annual production capacity of 6m units of passenger car tires and 1.2m units of truck and bus radial tires.

Sailun Group unveiled a $93.5m (€90m) expansion of its tire manufacturing site in Svay Rieng province, Cambodia. Set for completion in nine months, the project will add capacity for the production of 1.65m units of TBR tires per annum once fully ramped up: bringing nameplate capacity to 21m passenger car tires and 3.3m TBR tires.

Wanli Tire has completed a project to increase production capacity for semi-steel passenger car radial tires at its operations in Guangzhou City by 25%. The tire maker has now increased annual production capacity by 6m units to 30m units and has launched a new project to add another 6m units of PCR capacity in Guangzhou.

Clermont-Ferrand, France-based Carbios said 19 Dec that it is postponing the construction of its PET bio-recycling plant in Longlaville for six-to-nine months “due to delayed funding...” The company said it aims to finalise the financing “as quickly as possible, so as to serve market needs from 2027.”

M&A / RESTRUCTURING

Goodyear is selling the Dunlop tire brand to Sumitomo Rubber Industries for a cash amount of $701m (€677m). Set for completion by mid-year, the deal includes Dunlop trademark and other rights for four-wheel tires in Europe, North America, and Oceania but excludes India, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei for four-wheel tires. Furthermore, the transaction excludes India, Europe and Oceania for motorcycle tires. 

Michelin has earmarked €17m to fully acquire Indonesian tire maker Multistrada, with a tender offer to buy the company’s 0.36% outstanding shares from independent shareholders.

Sinochem is progressing plans to convert existing shareholder loans into equity for KraussMaffei Group’s parent China National Chemical Equipment (Luxembourg) Sárl. The €478m transaction is expected to “significantly improve” the capital structure of KM and open up new investment opportunities.”

Toyo Tire has established a new division to provide “integrated control” over its ‘rubber products development’, ‘automotive parts testing’, and ‘automotive parts production technology’ departments, effective 1 Jan. All three units perform functions related to automotive parts under the technology development division of the R&D headquarters.

ADNOC International, now XRG, has secured 91.3% of all outstanding shares of Covestro – exceeding the minimum acceptance threshold of 50% plus one share, Covestro announced 19 Dec. The takeover is not expected to complete before H2/25.

Sumitomo Chemical Co. has 'transferred' all of its shares in its two polymer compounds companies in China, including an elastomer production base. Dalian City-based Sumika Polymer Compounds Dalian was founded in 2011 as a 50/50 JV with local compounder Zhuhai Sumika Polymer Compounds. It manufactures PP and thermoplastic elastomer compounds.

TIRE MARKETS

Michelin expects 2024 volumes to come in 4-6% below the prior-year level, down from a previously projected decline of between 2-5% year-on-year. The outlook remains unchanged for passenger car and light truck (PC/LT) as well as truck & bus tires: both segments expected to report volume changes of between 2% growth and 2% decline. The 'specialities' segment is now expected to report a decline in volumes of 1-5% year-on-year, against previous estimates of 0-4% decline.

SHARE PRICES

Leading tire manufacturers’ share-price trends

Leading rubber product manufacturers’ share-price trends

MATERIALS

Thailand expects a significant decline in natural rubber production due to floodings and heavy rains in December last year, the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) has announced. The rain has impacted tapping in 11 southern provinces, covering 880 hectares of land, said RAOT in a 17 Dec statement. According to the authority, rubber production in the affected areas is expected to drop by 143kt in December 2024, nearly 25% of the projected production for the month.

ANRPC has forecast growth of 4.4% in NR prices for the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan, Korea) region in 2025. Global market uncertainties had a significant impact on prices near the end of 2024, with average monthly prices falling across board. This, ANRPC said, was “due to the resistance to high prices for the commodity by major consumers.”

Global NR production registered a 2.4% year-on-year increase in November 2024 to 12.7m tonnes, while global NR demand grew by 0.5% to 13.9m tonnes, ANRPC reported. The association’s outlook for global NR production remains unchanged, with an anticipated annual growth of 4.5% following a slight update on the forecast of China. Forecast for demand growth in 2024 has been revised upward by 1.4% following a revision in the ‘rest of the world’.

NR futures were generally weak in the first trading week of January, due in part to speculative sell-offs and long liquidations the month before, according to JPX. Trading volumes decreased across most exchanges due to the year-end and New Year holiday season, while China's rubber stock “declined sharply” amid concerns about potential higher tariffs from the new US administration.

Selected rubber futures price trends on major trading exchanges

(ERJ calculation for selected futures)

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