ERJ: Rubber & tire industry in numbers

Review of the key figures and data to emerge recently from leading players in the tire & industry: 

PROJECTS

Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) on 15 April held a groundbreaking event at the site of its new consumer/light truck tire plant in Saltillo, Mexico. The facility is set to start up in early 2027 with a planned output of 5m tires/year.

Korean group Hyosung plans to invest $1bn in a 200ktpa facility to manufacture bio-based butanediol (bio-BDO) in Vietnam. Initial capacity is to reach 50ktpa by 2026.

In a 2 April report, Kumho Tire said it had launched a €25m project to install a new production line for high-performance tires for new-energy vehicles at its Nanjing, China site – part of a wider plan to add 3.5m units/yr PCR capacity there.

India’s Nocil is to expand production of rubber chemicals at its manufacturing site in Dahej, India by 20%: investing €28m in the project at the site, which currently has a nameplate capacity of 115ktpa.

Aeolus Tyre is investing €185m to add capacity for 20k units/yr of ‘giant’ OTR tires at its Jiaozuo City, China site, which currently can produce 130k units/yr of OTR tires and 1.2m/yr TBRs. Aeolus is expanding production of 'giant' engineering tires to around 110k units/yr, while reducing TBR capacity – towards eventual target of 261k OTR tires and 200k TBRs a year.

M&A

Versalis has acquired family-owned Tecnofilm, a Le Marche, Italy manufacturer of functionalised polyolefins and thermoplastic compounds based on plastics and elastomers, it announced 15 April.

Trelleborg announced 16 April that it had finalised its SEK650 million acquisition of MNE Group, a South Korean manufacturer of precision seals for semiconductor production equipment with 2023 sales of €26m.

New UK tire company Nova Motorsport acquired Portugal-based tire maker Camac, which operates 500k units/year tire plant at Palmeira, it announced 9 April. Nova recently acquired Avon Motorsport and Avon Racing assets from Goodyear.

Ansell Ltd is to acquire Kimberly-Clark’s Personal Protective Equipment business for €590m. Already producing over 9bn gloves/year, Ansell comprises a healthcare global business unit with annual sales of $904m and a $751m turnover industrial global business unit.

Continental AG announced 8 April the acquisition of EMT sro, a Puchov, Slovakia-based manufacturer of steel moulds for commercial vehicle and speciality tires.

BUSINESS

Continental AG on 16 April issued preliminary Q1 figures, showing that its Tires group sector is set to post sales of €3.3bn and, EBIT margin of 11.7%, with respective figures for ContiTech of around €1.6bn and 5.4%. The group confirmed recent full-year forecasts for Tires sales of €14.5-15.5bn and ContiTech sales of between €6.8-7.2bn in 2024.

In its 2023 annual report, Eni, the parent group of Versalis, noted sales of butadiene rubber down 23.4%, nitrile rubbers down 16.8% and SBR down 6.1% year-on-year. Average unit prices fell 18.9%.

With an overall €2.0bn sales, Bekaert’s rubber reinforcement segment contributed 43% of the total group revenue in 2023. Segment sales were down 10% year-on-year, while earnings (EBITDA) fell 4.5% to €249.1million.

Chinese machinery maker Mesnac on 3 April posted a 65% year-on-year increase in annual ‘net profit’ to Yuan333bn (€42bn) in 2023, on sales of Yuan5,650bn, down 1.5% from 2022. 

Thai natural rubber (NR) processor and gloves producer Sri Trang posted a 24% year-on-year fall in sales to THB84bn (€2.1b) in 2023, while EBITDA fell 62% to THB4 billion.

Gates Corp. achieved a 9% year-on-year increase in adjusted earnings (EBITDA) to $747m (€688m) for 2023 on slightly higher sales of $3.5bn, as efficiencies offset lower volumes and higher labour costs.

Parker Hannifin Corp. recorded sales up 3% year-on-year to $4.8bn (€4.4bn) for the three months ended 31 Dec 2023. Adjusted EBITDA margin rose 330 basis points to 25.7%, helped by strong aerospace and defence results.

Chinese tire maker Prinx Chengshan on 28 March posted EBITDA up 102.4% year-on-year to RMB1,710m on 2023 operating revenue up 22% at RMB 9,950m.

In its annual report filed 28 March, Synthomer PLC reported a 15.5% year-on-year dip in revenue (in constant currency) for the continuing group to GBP1,970.9m. EBITDA came in at GBP142.1m, compared to GBP253.8m in 2022.

TRADE

Mexico is to impose antidumping duties ranging from 7.16% to 32.24% on passenger car and light truck tires originating in China. The decision follows a petition, filed in November 2022, by Bridgestone de México, Compañía Hulera Tornel, Continental Tire de México, and Industrias Michelin, announced the country’s interior ministry 5 April.

The Indian government on 28 March announced an antidumping investigation into imports of insoluble sulphur originating in or exported from China and Japan, following a petition by Oriental Carbon and Chemicals Ltd.

SHARE PRICES

Tire manufacturers’ share-price trends

MATERIALS PRICES

Natural rubber

JPX: Selected NR futures price trends on major trading exchanges

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