NR futures closed the second trading week of December higher across major exchanges. In Osaka, Japan, "short-covering activity was evident" in RSS3 contracts, lifting May-2026 contracts 1.7% week-on-week, reported JPX. In China, fresh buying interest emerged in TSR20 contracts on both the SHFE and the INE exchanges. Official SHFE rubber inventories “increased sharply” during the week, rising by 12,324 tonnes to 105,542 tonnes, JPX said. The stock-build, it added, offset much of the seasonal drawdown recorded in mid-November. Trading volumes are expected to ease as yearend holidays approach, with market sentiment “steady but cautious.”
Selected rubber futures price trends on major trading exchanges
Exchange
Commodity
Delivery
Week to 5/12/25
Week to 12/12/25
% Change
Osaka
RSS3
Jan‘26
322.8 (JPY)
324.2 (JPY)
+0.4%
SHFE
SCR/RSS
Jan‘26
15,000 (CNY)
15,250 (CNY)
+1.7%
INE
TSR
Jan‘26
12,020 (CNY)
12,310 (CNY)
+2.4%
SICOM
TSR20
Jan‘26
171.5 (US$c)
173.7(US$c)
+1.3%
SHFE
BR
Dec‘25
10,445 (CNY)
10,645 (CNY)
+1.9%
(ERJ calculation for selected futures pricing, as tracked by JPX)
BUSINESS
Top tire makers: Results for the first three quarters of 2025
Company
Period
Sales
€ / local
YoY change
Earnings
YoY change
Bridgestone – Tires*
Q1-3/25
€16,315m
Yen3,022bn
-0.7%
€2,161m1
Yen362bn1
-23.6%
Michelin – Tires*
Q1-3/25
€16,189m
-2.1%
n/s
n/s
Goodyear – Tires**
Q1-3/25
€10,921m
$12,272m
-4.6%
€570.4m1
$641m
-30.3%
Continental Tires
Q1-3/25
€10,240m
+0.0%
€1,901m2
-2.7%
Pirelli
Q1-3/25
€5,195m
+0.2%
€1,185m1
+2.4%
Hankook Tire business***
Q1-3/25
€4,751m
KRW7,565bn
Vs 6,707,600m
€753m1
KRW1,199bn
-7.0%
Yokohama Rubber (Tires)
Q1-3/25
€4,750m
Yen796bn
+135%
€555m1
Yen93bn
+18%
Sumitomo SRI – Tires
Q1-3/25
€4,418m
Yen740bn
-1.1%
€244m1
Yen41bn
-20%
*Sales figure based on ratio of group sales to tire-related sales as applied in the Global Tire Report 2025 / ** Goodyear earnings figure for both tire and non-tire businesses / ***Hankook: Around KRW86.2bn in PPA-related depreciation and amortisation recognised in Q1-3/25 following acquisition of Hanon Systems. // Earnings: 1(Segment) operating income; 2EBITDA // Euro figures based on average year-to-date exchange rates: Yen = 0.00597; $ = 0.8899; KRW = 0.00629.
PROJECTS
Recently reported capacity additions & expansions
Reported
Company
Project
Location
Capex
Details
18 Dec
Ineos
Upgrade production units at key site
Grangemouth, Scotland
GBP150m
UK government-backed move to maintain key site , 500+ skilled direct jobs, supply of essential raw materials
17 Dec
Jilin Petrochemical
Upgrade 200ktpa ‘butadiene’ unit
n/s
n/s
Support downstream prod’n of styrene-butadiene rubber, ABS
16 Dec
Trelleborg
Medical products plant
n/s
Costa Rica
Official opening
15 Dec
Bandag - Bridgestone
Build retreading plant
€1.7m
Rustavi, Georgia
Project with Tegeta Motors
9 Dec
Mitsui Chemicals
New 120ktpa polyolefin elastomers plant
Jurong Island, Singapore
n/s
To start up by March ‘26
8 Dec
Sailun
Phase II expansion
Kampot, Cambodia
€130m
Chemicals- and rubber-making tire ‘cluster’
8 Dec
Trelleborg Medical Solutions
Opens new biopharma facility
Northborough, Massachusetts
n/s
Extrusion, moulding, cleanroom ops
4 Dec
Eneos Corp.
Add 10ktpa SSBR capacity
Yokkaichi, Japan
n/s
By Dec 2027
4 Dec
ContiTech
CO2 exhaust gases from prod’n to make bio-based oils, materials
Hamburg-Harburg, Germany site
n/s
Project with biotech startup Colipi
3 Dec
Kumho
Build new tire plant
Opole, Poland
€502m
To start up in Q3/28
2 Dec
Shandong Daye Co.
New tire bead wire plant
Morocco
€180m
Investment implementation stage
1 Dec
Prometeon / CNRC
Planned tire expansion
Amreya, Egypt
€345m
1 Dec
Yokohama Rubber Co.
Opens new car tire plant
Hangzhou, China
€460m
Official launch, phase I of 9m tires/yr unit
MARKETS & M&A
Ineos has called for urgent political action to halt the “catastrophic decline” in the EU chemical industry “before there is nothing left” (see Plant closures). In November, Ineos filed 10 major anti-dumping cases citing “significant inflows of carbon heavy imports into the continent from China.” Up 8.3% in H1/25, these “carbon-intensive” imports are subject to a fraction of EU energy costs and no carbon price at all, it stated.
Shandong Dawn Polymer Co. Ltd is to acquire an 80% stake in Ningbo SK Synthetic Rubber Co., for Yuan516m (€62m) from SK Group. Located in the Ningbo Chemical and Industrial Zone, Zhejiang, China, Ningbo SK is an 80/20 JV between SK Geo Centric and China state-owned Ningbo Chemical Development. The plant includes capacity to produce 50ktpa of EPDM rubber.
Last year, 533kt of scrap tires were generated in Germany, with almost 70% remaining within the circular economy through reuse, retreading and material recycling. At almost 200kt, more than 66% are processed into granules and rubber powder, added WDK, stating that: “A risk-based approach in the evaluation of the chemical ingredients of these recycled products is urgently needed to ensure their market success.”
German chemicals industry body the VCI reported that European chemicals production declined by 2.5%, while capacity utilisation stood at around 70% in 2025. Employment in the chemicals & pharma sector fell by 0.5% this year, equivalent to around 2,400 jobs. VCI expects overall production in the chemicals output to fall by a further 1% and revenues by around 2% year-on-year in 2026.