Rubber & tire industry in numbers

PROJECTS

Belgium’s Port of Oostende has announced the arrival of Tyros BV with a waste tire pyrolysis project. The facility will be built on a former UCB 2-hectare and will be able to convert 9,125 tonnes of rubber granulate from ELTs annually into products such as recovered carbon black (rCB), green pyrolysis oil and syngas. 

Cordiant Group has progressed the ramping up of production at the former Continental tire plant in Kaluga which has been renamed as Gislaved. The facility produced 2.7 million units of passenger car tires, said deputy governor of Kaluga Vladimir Popov in a social media post 4 Feb. 

BUSINESS

French tire major Michelin Group has reported a decline in both sales and operating income in 2024, due in part to lower tire volumes and lower utilisation rates. Full year operating income fell 5.4% year-on-year to €3.3 billion on 4% lower sales of €27.1 billion. 

Sumitomo Rubber Industries has finished 2024 on a strong note, due in part to the appreciation of the yen against the US dollar and the euro in the final quarter of the year. Full-year earnings came in at Yen88 billion (€547 million), up 13.2% year-over-year and 9.9% above the group’s previous estimate in November 2024. Sales for 2024 came in at Yen1,210 billion, up 2.9% ccompared to the year before and 1% above the earlier forecast, SRI announced 13 Feb. 

Kumho Tire has reported robust growth in 2024, helped by strong performance in major markets such as the US and the EU. The Korean tire maker saw annual operating profit (earnings) increase 44% year-on-year to KRW591 billion (€392 million), on 12% higher sales of KRW4,538 billion. 

India’s Apollo Tyres Ltd has seen a 21% decline in third quarter operating profit to INR9.47 billion (€106 million), due mainly to an increase in the cost of raw materials. Sales for the three months to end of December 2024 was up 5% year-over-year at INR69 billion, with both Indian and European operations reporting “mid-single digit growths.” 

Nexen Tire Corp. saw its profitability decline due to weak sales in North America, despite registering a record revenue for 2024. The Korean tire maker posted sales of KRW2,840 billion (€1.9 billion) for the full year, up 5.4% compared to 2023. Operating profit, however, fell nearly 8% year-on-year to KRW172 billion, due to weak sales in North America, as well as downstream distribution costs such as logistics and warehousing. 

In Japan Toyoda Gosei has been its results impacted by lower automotive production globally, with operating profit declining sharply for the first nine months of fiscal year 2024 (ending 31 March). For the nine-month period, the Japanese group posted operating profit of Yen41 billion (€257 million), down 15.8% compared to 2023. Sales for the period were down 2.1% year-on-year at Yen787 billion. 

Zeon Corp. has raised its earnings forecast for its fiscal year ending 31 March, due in part to improved margins within its elastomers business. The group now expects earnings (operating profit) of Yen26.5 billion (€166 million), up 13% compared to an earlier forecast in October 2024 – and 30% above the prior-year level. Zeon also expects total sales to come in 0.5% higher than previously estimated, to reach Yen417 billion, representing a 9.1% year-on-year improvement. 

Shin-Etsu Chemical’s ‘functional materials’ unit has reported a 6% year-on-year increase in operating income for the first nine months of its fiscal year to Yen78.3 billion (€490 million). Sales at the division, which includes the Japanese group’s silicones operations, also increased for the three quarters to end of December 2024 by 5% to Yen326 billion. 

Germany’s Wacker Chemie AG’s silicones operations posted a 2% year-on-year increase in sales in 2024, reporting an annual revenue of €2.8 billion. Earnings for the division is expected to come in at €345 million, marking a 46% increase year over year, according to Wacker’s preliminary figures. 

Carbon black and chemicals supplier Cabot Corp. has seen volumes within its reinforcement materials segment increase, buoyed by demand from Europe and Asia. The unit, which mainly produces carbon black for rubber reinforcement, delivered sales of $611 million in the first quarter, down 4.6% compared to the year before. Earnings for the quarter ended 31 Dec 2024, was up marginally at $147 million, compared to $146 million a year ago. 

China’s Hainan Rubber Group expects a 73% year-on-year decline in net profit for 2024, despite higher sales revenue and volumes during the year. The natural rubber (NR) major estimates net profit to come in Yuan80 million and Yuan120 million (€10-16 million), down from Yuan297.1 million reported the year before. 

Bridgestone has invested in a new driver-in-the-loop (DiL) simulator at its EMEA R&D centre based near Rome, to strengthen its tire development process. DiL, according to the Japanese group, will reduce the volume of both manufactured tires and physical tire testing, with Bridgestone projecting that up to 12,000 experimental tires will be saved every year due to the investment. 

Tire Technology Expo 2025, taking place at the Messe Hannover on 4-6 March, will feature leading-edge equipment, technologies and materials from around 240 specialist suppliers.

SHARE PRICES

Leading tire manufacturers’ share-price trends

Leading rubber product manufacturers’ share-price trends

                                                                                                                            MATERIALS

Natural rubber futures ended the first trading week of February mixed as Chinese exchanges resumed trading following the lunar new year holidays, according to JPX. In Osaka, Japan, OSE’s July-2025 rubber contract declined 5.2% week-on-week on light liquidation while the sharp appreciation of the Japanese yen against the US dollar also pressured prices. In Shanghai, SHFE and INE rubber prices gained 1.0% and 0.7%, respectively, on fresh buying interest, while Singapore’s SICOM active May-2025 contract ended the week 1.7% lower compared to the week before. Overall, JPX said, rubber prices have remained “resilient” in recent weeks.

Selected rubber futures price trends on major trading exchanges

(ERJ calculation for selected futures)

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