Rubber & tire industry in numbers

PROJECTS

Bhuj, India-based Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT) has unveiled a INR35bn (€360m) three-year plan to more than double revenue to INR230 billion by 2030. It includes entering the premium passenger car radial (PCR) and commercial vehicle (CV) radial tire segments in India. A CV radial tire pilot is scheduled for Q4/26 (started 1 April), followed by a PCR tire pilot in Q3/27.

Taipei, Taiwan-based TSRC Corp. has completed the relocation of its rubber production facility within Nantong to meet environmental protection requirements along the Yangtze River. The production capacity of the emulsion SBR plant, operated by subsidiary Shenhua Chemical Industrial, has now increased from 170ktpa to 220ktpa. A Yuan1.2bn (€150m) ‘phase II’ plan will add capacity for 55ktpa of solution SBR and 15ktpa of lithium polybutadiene rubber.

ContiTech AG has officially completed an expansion project at its conveyor belt production facility in Ponta Grossa, Brazil. The 7,000 sq.m unit is designed to ‘double, or even triple’ capacity in the coming years: adding “advanced new rubber mixing, rubber blanket calendering, vulcanisation, and inspection technologies.

M&A & RESTRUCTURING

Yokohama Rubber Co. has acquired fixed assets of Euro Tire’s closed manufacturing plant in Romania to increase production capacity for OTR tires in Europe. The $35m (€30m) deal covered land, buildings and machinery at the Drobeta-Turnu Severin site, which will now be used to make tires for mining and construction machinery.

Prismore Capital, BDI-BioEnergy Int. and the Rieckermann Group have acquired the patented tire pyrolysis technology of Grupo BB&G, a Portugal-based end-of-life tire (ELT) recycler. The acquisition covers IP, a demo plant in Fatima, Portugal, and an ongoing collaboration with Bridgestone and Versalis. Austrian greentech firm BDI was partially acquired by German machinery maker Rieckermann in 2024.

MARKETS & BUSINESS

German rubber industry association WDK reported sales at member down 2.7% year-on-year between January and March. Production fell by 2.5% and domestic sales by 2%.

Essen, Germany-based Evonik aims to raise earnings (EBITDA) by €1bn by 2027 under a new strategic setup: gains to stem equally from “growth” and “optimisation” initiatives. It also targeted a return on capital employed (ROCE) of around 11% by 2027 – up from 7.1%in 2024. About €500m of the gains will come from higher capacity utilisation at new plants and sales of new products.

Earnings at Birmingham, UK-headquartered Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Ltd (DATL) grew 26% year-on-year to £9.2m (€11m) on 2024 sales up 5.4% to £57m – reflecting recovery in the aviation industry.

New EU car registrations grew 1.3% year-on-year in April to 0.93m, reported the ACEA. But over the first four months, registrations fell by 1.2% year-on-year to 3.64m units. The battery-electric car market share for the first four months stood at 15.3% up from 12% a year ago, while the combined market share of petrol and diesel cars fell from 48.4% to 38.2%.

For its fiscal 2025, Indian off-road tire group BKT reported a 16% year-on-year increase in earnings (EBITDA) to INR27bn, on 13% higher sales of INR106bn. Volumes grew 8% compared to the previous year at 315kt, while earnings margin grew by 50 bps to 25.26%.

Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) has renewed a supply agreement for waste tire pyrolysis oil (TPO) from its end-of-life tire (ELT) recycling facility in Asensbruk, Sweden. The order with the undisclosed “leading American oil company” accounts for 100% of the annual production of 750 tonnes of TPO at the plant. 

SHARE PRICES

Leading tire manufacturers’ share-price trends

Leading rubber product manufacturers’ share-price trends

MATERIALS

Natural rubber 

Tokyo – Natural rubber (NR) futures showed a mixed trend in the third trading week of May, following two weeks of moderate gains The week ended 23 May saw a decline in trading volumes across all major Far East exchanges, as traders adopted a “cautious stance,” according to a 26 May report by Japan Exchange Group (JPX).

JPX: Selected rubber futures price trends on major trading exchanges

 (ERJ calculation for selected futures)

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