After a two-year slump, the global tire market entered a price increase cycle as the economy improved, and recently the industry has been slashing prices. Investors believe that tire demand has already bottomed out. In 2009, demand for replacement tires in Europe and the United States increased by 6.4% and 9.7%. In this context, tire manufacturers have deployed a new round of expansion plans. Rising wave of price surges It was Goodyear Tire Co., which raised prices earlier. From December 1st last year, the price of Goodyear tires rose by 6%. Later, Bridgestone Americas, Continental Tire North America and Yokohama Japan also increased tire prices . Since January 1, Bridgestone has increased the selling prices of Firestone and its subsidiary tires (including accessories and retail) by 5%, and the price of Continental tires in North America has increased by about 5%. Yokohama has increased the prices of all tires. 6%. Recently, top tire manufacturers in the United States have also joined the price increase. From January 1, Kumho ’s tire prices for sedans, light trucks/SUVs and commercial trucks increased by 8%, and Pirelli’s all-car and light/off-road vehicle tire prices increased by 4.5%. Michelin North America also announced recently that the price of tires for Michelin and Belcher brand commercial trucks sold in the United States will increase by 7% from February 1. The price increase will also apply to Michelin's retreaded tires, and the price of replacement tires for passenger cars and light trucks will also increase. The price of Michelin brand heavy-duty bulldozer tires will increase by 4%. Shortage of raw materials costs soared Tire companies invariably explained that the reason for the price increase was that raw material prices have risen sharply and have reached an unacceptable level. Heavy rains and floods in November severely affected the rubber production in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and India, and the production of these major rubber producing countries significantly decreased. Concerns from market participants coupled with strong demand for rubber prices have gradually increased. In mid-January, the price of rubber has exceeded US$3/kg, which is close to the historical peak of 3.25 yuan/kg. China's Tire Transmission to the United States Blocked Another driving factor for tire price hikes is that the United States imposes a special tariff of nearly 35% on China's passenger/light truck tires, which has seriously affected the export of Chinese tires to the United States, creating conditions for world tire manufacturers to raise prices and become the tire prices for this round. The rising fuse. As the route for importing passenger/light truck tires from China is now largely blocked, US dealers have to seek supplies from tire manufacturers outside China, resulting in a shortage of US tires, especially low-grade tires, and the price of tires has increased by about 10%. Investment enthusiasm rose again Tire prices have triggered another hot tire investment. After the financial crisis, Michelin and other world-renowned tire companies almost stopped all expansion plans. The global tire factory recently started expansion and new construction projects. Michelin plans to invest 870 million U.S. dollars in the next two to three years to build a load-bearing tire plant in South India and start production in 2012. Bridgestone plans to invest 56.3 million U.S. dollars to increase its Kheda passenger and light truck tire production capacity to 15,000 bars/day. Pirelli announced an additional investment of US$100 million in Brazil and Latin America to develop OTR and agricultural tire production. Toyo Tire also announced the establishment of a new tire factory in Southeast Asia. Cooper Ticaret increased its investment by US$10 million to improve the automated production level of its tire factory, and also announced that it will increase its production capacity at the Texarkana plant in Arkansas and Mississippi, Guadalajara, Mexico and in China. Expansion of Kunshan's joint venture production facilities. Casting Production Line Casting Production Line Suzhou SPT Technology Co.,Ltd , https://www.chinatubemill.com
Due to the strong market demand and the inventories of tire manufacturers have fallen to 20-25 days production levels, the tire prices in the Indian market have recently increased by 5%-7%. Tata Motors stated that the contradiction between the supply and demand of tires is outstanding. Although the output has increased in the past few weeks, it is difficult to keep up with the supply of tires. Sri Lankan Tire Trade Co., Ltd. announced recently that the prices of tires such as Dunlop, Fukken, Sumitomo and other brands will increase. The price of most products will increase by 5% to 10%, and the upper limit of growth will be 15%.
Financial analysts expect European top-tier tire makers to increase their prices by 5% to 8% in January due to increased market demand and shortages of tires in some regions. Analysts at Morgan Stanley pointed out that Hankook Tire's product prices in the United States rose by 7% in mid-October last year, and will further raise prices by 7% in the first half of this year, which will largely ease the increase in natural rubber prices. pressure.
Shawn Denlein, head of Yokohama's tire sales department, said: "The main raw materials for tires continue to rise. In addition, transportation costs are also rising. The company has adopted a series of internal improvement measures to increase production efficiency and reduce costs. Raw materials have risen, but it has reached the limit of the company's ability to bear. We must not have made a decision to increase prices."
The successive price hikes by the world's tire manufacturers have affected the marketing of the Chinese tire industry. Most of the foreign brands that have been distributed in China have recently increased their prices by about 5%. Several tire manufacturers plan to launch price increases in succession.