Rubber & tire industry in numbers

PROJECTS / RESTRUCTURING

PROJECTS

China National Tire & Rubber Co. (CNRC) is exploring two major expansion projects in Egypt. CNRC subsidiary Prometeon Tyre Egypt operates a facility in Alexandria with a nameplate annual capacity of 1.1m truck tires, of which 70% is exported aboard. The ChemChina subsidiary is also planning a new passenger car tire plant adjacent to the current site.

Chinese materials supplier Cenway is planning to expand its production capacity for butyl rubber by 70ktpa – 5kt of ordinary butyl rubber and 65ktpa halogenated butyl rubber – at its site in the Jiaxing Port Area, Zhejiang province. On completion, the total production capacity of butyl rubber products at the plant will reach 120kt: 5kt of ordinary butyl rubber, 74.6ktpa of brominated butyl rubber, and 40.4ktpa of chlorobutyl 0rubber.

Linglong Tire is planning to set up a factory in Kenya to serve the African market, Kenyan president William Samoei Ruto revealed in a 17 Jan social media post on a meeting with Linglong chairman Wang Feng in Nairobi to discuss the project.

Longxing Chemical has started commercial production at a new 200ktpa production unit at its site in Changzhi city, Shanxi, northern China – following the completion of a Yuan3.1bn (€390m) expansion project, launched in September 2023.

M&A AND RESTRUCTURING

Oslo-based Elkem ASA has initiated a strategic review of its silicones division with the target to streamline the company. The unit posted a 2% year-on-year rise in operating income for Q1-3/24, to NOK10,962m (€933m). Earnings for the period came in at NOK145m, versus a loss of NOK672m for same period in 2023.

Vianor Oy the tire and car service arm of Nokian Tyres, has announced the temporary lay-off of 450 employees of 90 days per person during 2025. In 2023, the company generated net sales of €344m.

Bridgestone Argentina has announced a new round of job cuts at its industrial plant in the Buenos Aires town of Llavallol, following a sharp drop in demand last year and amid negative expectations for this year. According to local trade union Sunta, the new round of cuts is expected to affect 290 jobs. Over Q1-3 / ‘24, Bridgestone reported a loss of Yen22bn (€137m) from its Argentinian operations.

Teijin Aramid, part of Teijin Group, plans to close its aramid fibre production site in Arnhem. The move is part of a series of group-wide cost-cutting measures, including a 15% reduction over the coming years.

Soft demand for rubber blacks in Europe and North America has prompted Houston, Texas-based Orion SA to initiate a plan to reduce its non-plant workforce by 6%: realising $6m in annualised cost savings by 2025. Orion also expects its earnings projections for fiscal 2024 to fall below the previously guided range of $305-315m.

Yokohama Rubber Co. is to close its 270-employee plant in Prague, which manufactures cross-ply off-highway tires. Production at the Czech plant – operated by subsidiary Yokohama TWS Czech Republic – is to end by June.

BUSINESS

European Association of Automotive Suppliers CLEPA said car production in Europe remains 20% or 3m units below pre-pandemic levels, while the automotive-supply sector announced a “record” 54k jobs cuts during the year. Since 2019, CLEPA said, automotive suppliers have announced a total of 145k job cuts, while only 51k new jobs have been created. EV-related investment plummeted to €5.64bn in 2024 – the lowest level since 2019.

Mumbai, India-based tire maker Ceat has seen an 18.6% year-on-year decline in Q3 earnings (EBITDA) to INR3.5bn on sales for the three months to 31 Dec up 11% year-over-year at INR33bn. Earnings margin fell from 14.4% in prior-year Q3 to 10.5% due mainly to rising raw material costs.

The European Commission has extended antidumping and countervailing duties on the imports of truck & bus tries originating in China.  Effective 15 Jan, the new antidumping duties range from €0 to €35.75 per tire while the countervailing duties range between €3.75 and €57.28 per tire, the EC recorded in the official journal of the EU. Citing Eurostat data, the review said Chinese truck tire imports accounted for 5.4% of the EU market compared to a 21.3% market-share during the original investigation.

Desma Elastomertechnik has signalled new investment plans to expand its mould and cold runner business this year in response to “continued strong demand”. Desma posted “record sales and order-intake” in the mould-construction segment last year, with an order backlog from 2024 providing a “very positive outlook for this year.”

SHARE PRICES

Leading tire manufacturers’ share-price trends

Leading rubber product manufacturers’ share-price trends

MATERIALS

Tokyo – Natural rubber futures have made gains amid "stronger-than-expected" Chinese economic growth, reported Japan Exchange Group (JPX). All Far East major exchanges closed the trading week ended 17 Jan higher, driven by "short covering and fresh speculative buying," JPX reported 20 Jan.

Selected rubber futures price trends on major trading exchanges

(ERJ calculation for selected futures)

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