Studded tyre supply problems push prices up 25% in Estonia

The number of studded winter tyres on sale in Estonia has halved this year, resulting in 25 per cent price increases, according to Estonia’s largest tyre importer Rehvid24.ee.

Local news sources report that 70 per cent of Estonian cars use studded tyres in winter and the majority originate from well-known brands, such as Bridgestone, Continental, Michelin and Pirelli. Rehvid.24.ee adds that the supply gap results from the fact that many studded tyres were produced in Russia and these are no longer sold in Estonia.

Marek Moorus, head of Rehvid24.ee, commented: “If you can’t actually import any more tyres from Russia, if there is no production there, then the market will change in such a way that we will have half as many replacement tyres on the market, let’s say on the Nordic market — in Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Compared to last year, manufacturers have increased tyre prices for us as importers by an average of 20 to 25 per cent”.

At the same time, local garages have raised their prices and changing tyres has become more expensive, Moorus further explained:

“What has happened now is that, whereas most consumers thought that you could change tyres in a garage somewhere for €30, what has really happened, unfortunately, is that the so-called garages, the one-man workshops, have raised prices from €30 to €50 to €60, for instance”.

Co-owner of garage Marja Autokumm in Tallinn’s Kristiine district told local website ERR that these and other economic factors are pushing up the price of Chinese-produced tyres too:

“Tyres at the cheaper end of the market went up at the beginning of the pandemic because transport prices in China became so expensive. Whereas a container used to cost €2,000, suddenly it was €10,000, and that meant that you had to pay €5 to €10 more [per tyre], but it was a very big increase for tyres in that price range”.