Report: Tire cord markets on a roll

ERJ staff report (PR)

San Jose, California – The global tire cord market is set to exceed 5.0 million tonnes by 2020, driven by technology advancements and new opportunities in developing countries, said Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA) - announcing a new report on the sector.

While the announcement did not include a baseline figure for the global market, GIA said suppliers are benefiting from an increasing move to radial tires for trucks and buses in developing countries. This, it noted, will raise demand for high tensile-strength steel cord in particular.

Strong demand for replacement tires, especially in commercial vehicles, is also driving growth in the market, said GIA.

Further growth stems from tightening environmental regulations and fuel-efficiency requirements. These factors are pushing up demand for advanced tire cord materials in cost-competitive and lightweight tires with a longer life span and lower rolling resistance.

In response, steel cord manufacturers are focused on minimising the weight of steel cord by using high-strength steel and designing cord constructions that require less use of steel. Of particular note, said GIA, is the growing popularity of hybrid combinations with synthetic fibres such as nylon, PEN, PET, aramid and rayon.

Due to increasing prosperity, Asia-Pacific represents the largest and fastest growing market worldwide with a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent to 2020. The growing importance of China and India as destinations for outsourced automotive manufacturing activities will also drive demand for tire cord in the OEM segment.

Major players in this market include Century Enka Ltd, CORDENKA GmbH & Co. KG, Hyosung Corp., Kolon Industries Inc., Kordarna Plus AS, Kordsa Global NV Bekaert SA, Polymer Fibers, SRF Ltd, Teijin Ltd and Xingda International Holdings Ltd.