Truck tyre imports halved as Indian manufacturers reduce prices

Imports of truck and bus radials into India fell by almost a half during the June to November period. Quoting figures from the All India Tyre Dealers Federation (ATMA), business daily The Hindu writes that the number of TBR tyres imported into the country declined from 106,700 units in June to just 54,175 units in November; it reports that the decline in imports followed price cuts of eight to ten per cent that were introduced by domestic tyre manufacturers.

The Hindu quoted the following passage from an ATMA statement: “The prices of TBR tyres and non-radial nylon fabric conventional tyres were reduced by six to seven per cent along with additional discounts of two to three per cent. This decision led to [a] drop in TBR imports to the extent of almost 48 per cent during November, 2015 from the earlier peak of June 2015.”

According to ATMA chairman Raghupati Singhania, domestic capacities in India lie unutilised. While Singhania blames this situation on a “massive surge in dumping of cheap tyres from China,” The Hindu notes that tyre dealers in India consider prices for TBR tyres produced by domestic manufacturers to be very high considering that low rubber prices have brought overall production costs down.