Chinese rubber-product demand to grow 9% a year

ERJ staff report (PR)

Beijing – Demand for rubber products in China is projected to grow 8.8 percent a year to reach Yuan740 billion (€90 bn) in 2017, according to a new study from Cleveland-based Freedonia.

The gains will be supported by healthy growth in manufacturing production, especially in the industrial machinery and automotive industries, says the report from the market watcher’s Beijing office.

Strong demand gains for both consumer automotives and other vehicle types, such as medium and heavy trucks and buses, are expected to contribute to growth in demand for tires and other rubber products.

Freedonia also sees a continuing shift in the tire-product mix toward higher-value product types such as radial tires, run-flat tires, air-free tires, ultra-high performance tires, and tires of larger sizes will also help drive market gains in value terms.

“Growing demand for higher-priced tires as income levels continue to grow will further boost revenues,” commented analyst Linda Li, in a press release about the report.

Freedonia, meanwhile, forecasts demand for industrial rubber products to grow by 9.4 percent a year to 2017. The market, it said, will be driven by strong growth in the production of construction machinery, mining and metallurgy equipment, chemical and petroleum machinery, material handling equipment, and metalworking equipment.

Overall, the industrial machinery and motor vehicle markets have the largest impact on rubber product sales - accounting for 72 percent of total demand in 2012. Gains in these two markets are forecast to outpace the market average through 2017.

However, rubber product demand in the aerospace and other transportation equipment market is projected to grow at the fastest rate. This, said Freedonia, will be due to strong increases in the production of commercial aircraft and helicopters, as well as aircraft parts.