Indian Production Rises as Exports Fall in August

Indian tyre manufacturers have seen production across all segments rise five per cent (6,990,767) on August 2007 (6,674,269), while the numbers for the first five months of the new financial year yielded an eight per cent gain on the average monthly production (7,059,732) against the same period in 2007, say figures released by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association. The same could not be said for exports, where the cross-segment figure for August ’08 dropped considerably by 12 per cent from 535,325 to 473,444.

A particular highlight of the collected statistics is the action of the Tractor segment in August. Exports fell by 71 and 41 per cent respectively in front and rear categories compared to the monthly figures for 2007, though at the same time production in these sections rose 18 and 103 per cent. As these proportions suggest, the numbers for rear Tractor tyre production are particularly striking, going from 100,676 to 204,118 for August YOY. In terms of average monthly production between April and August 2008, front and rear Tractor tyres have increased in numbers by 10 and 30 per cent compared to the same five months in 2007. Looking at export figures, these segments have also witnessed an average month-on-month decrease of 41 and 17 per cent respectively in the same period.

Meanwhile, the Indian automotive market’s recent growth is reflected in the Passenger Car and Motorcycle tyre production segments, both of which have seen double-figure proportional rises comparing August 2008 to August 2007. (Passenger Car: up 11 per cent from 1,366,685 in August ’07 to 1,514,190 in August ’08; Motorcycle: up 10 per cent 2,295,274 in August ’07 – 2,514,195 in August ’08.) Numbers are relatively small in the export of tyres in these segments, though it is worth noting that Indian exports fell 13 per cent in Passenger Car tyres, continuing the general trend this financial year, witnessing a 13 per cent fall from 92,679 to 80,380. The average month-on-month drop for this segment is 9 per cent, comparing April-August 2008 to the same period 2007.

While the important – at least in terms of volume – Truck/Bus and Light Truck segments saw no great change in terms of production, each segment has seen an average monthly rise this financial year of 4 and 10 per cent respectively. India produced an average of 1,137,393 Truck/Bus tyres and 467,153 Light Truck tyres per month since April this year. Truck/Bus exports are down an average of 17 per cent (to 169,255) per month and 22 per cent August ’08-on-August ’07, while Light Truck exports are up 16 per cent from 128,652 to 148,930 in August. The segment has seen growth in the first five months of FY2008-9, with a monthly average rise of 13 per cent.