Shale to strengthen Chinese tire sector

Brussels – Moves to develop shale and other unconventional hydrocarbon resources in China will soon benefit tire makers in the country, according to Patrick Ellis of consultancy Smithers Rapra.

As well as being used for energy, shale gas is increasingly been converted into low-cost chemical feedstock. This includes monomers for the production of tire rubbers, particularly styrene-butadiene and polybutadiene.

“The Chinese have some of the world’s largest reserves of shale gas,” Ellis said at this year’s Future Tire conference in Brussels. “They don't have the technology [in-place yet], but are getting it quickly, and can buy it off-the-shelf, more or less.

“They are investing dramatically in this area, and will have access to [shale resources] very very shortly. There are other countries doing this, but China is the biggest and most dominant in the tire industry.

With the US, Ellis forecast that we will soon have two of the world's major tire-making regions benefiting from access to lower cost shale-derived raw materials.

This, he indicated, could have a significant impact on the competitiveness of the European tire industry, unless steps are taken to exploit shale resources in the region.