Global tire market begins to rejuvenate

Recently, the world’s tire giants announced the first half of the year’s report in succession, showing that the world’s tire industry has emerged from the downturn after a severe financial crisis last year, and sales revenue and profits have generally grown in tandem. The world’s top ten tire giants have enjoyed a small percentage of Goodyear’s losses, all of which have been profitable and have grown significantly compared to the previous year. At the same time, companies are generally optimistic about the market trend of the tire industry in the second half of the year, increasing market expectations in the second half of the year and setting off a new wave of expansion.

The financial status of the three giants such as Bridgestone, the world’s first tire company, has changed completely. In the first half of this year, Bridgestone’s first-half sales revenue increased by 15% from the previous year, and its net sales profit was 44.5 billion yen, compared with Bridgestone’s loss of 39.3 billion yen in the same period last year. Michelin ranked second in sales revenue in the first half of the year increased by 17% to 10.3 billion US dollars, net profit exceeded expectations, reached 618.5 million US dollars, while in the first half of last year the company lost 172.4 million US dollars, operating profit margin from 4% in the same period last year Increased to 9.8%. The third-half loss of Goodyear Group in the first half of the year has also been reduced by 30 times from last year.

The world's second-tier tires, such as Continental and Pirelli, are all profitable and have increased at a large rate. The German mainland achieved a profit of 158 million U.S. dollars, compared with a loss of 190 million U.S. dollars in the same period last year. The Italian Pirelli Group was financially divided by its subsidiaries, but it still achieved an increase in net profit, and operating income increased by two-thirds. Sumitomo Rubber's sales revenue grew by 22.2% to reach US$3.07 billion and its profit reached US$114 million. Hankook’s tire sales revenue and operating profit both achieved double-digit growth. US Cooper sales revenue increased by 29.5% to 1.56 billion U.S. dollars, from a loss of 34.2 million U.S. dollars last year to a profit of 55.7 million U.S. dollars. The sales revenue of Kumho Tire increased 25.8% to reach US$1.05 billion, which changed from a loss last year to a profit of US$64.40 million.

Most of the world's third-tier tires (ranked after 10), such as Toyo, achieved profitability, but their levels were uneven. China's 2009 top 75 tire companies are also all profitable.

The improvement in the financial performance of each tire company mainly comes from sales growth and price increase. The global automotive industry is bottoming out under the background of government stimulus and economic growth, leading to a significant increase in demand for tires. In the first half of the year, the largest increase in tire sales revenue was in North America, with Michelin North America’s primary market for passengers and light trucks growing by 70%, and Goodyear North America’s original market increasing by 69%. The major tire companies generally raised their tire prices by 5% to 10% at the beginning of the year. In May, most companies raised their prices by 5%. This has contributed to the improvement of the performance of the tire companies, and also contributed to the continuous improvement in the performance of the second half of the year. basis.

The Rubber Manufacturers Association of America (RMA) raised its tire shipment forecast for 2010. RMA predicts that due to the substantial increase in demand for the original tire matching market, total tire shipments this year are expected to increase by about 8% from the previous year to 282 million units, which is equivalent to the 2008 figure. The increase in shipments reflects the fact that the United States is recovering from a severe economic downturn. This also shows that the trend in the world tire market, including North America, is clear.

All tire companies are generally optimistic about the trend in the second half of the year. Most tire companies have recently raised their sales and profit targets this year. Bridgestone expects annual net profit to reach 91.1 billion yen, which is much higher than the plan for May. Michelin is optimistic about the prospects, saying that even if raw materials are rising, they are not worried and can be compensated through price increase. It is expected that sales revenue will increase by more than 10% this year and achieve better profitability.

Tire company's good performance and optimistic outlook for the market outlook have led to the emergence of a new round of global tire expansion. Bridgestone and Michelin have successively launched a number of new and expansion projects, mainly in emerging countries such as China and India. Almost all of the top 10 in the world have started tire projects in China, such as the Michelin Shenyang project, the Dongyang Zhangjiagang project, the Sumitomo Changsha project, the Hantai Wuhan project, the Bridgestone Huizhou project, and the German Hefei project. Bridgestone and Michelin also respectively expanded their production in India.