China’s tyre exports down more than 20%

According to export data released by China Customs, China exported 40.72 million “new pneumatic rubber tyres” (a term that includes all pneumatic tyres including bicycles as well as enginen-drive tyre products) in November. The exported tyres weighed 550,000 tons and were worth 9.88 billion yuan (about £1.18 billion; 1.33 billion euros).

From January to November, China exported 507 million tyres, a year-on-year decrease of 6 per cent. During the same period, the export weight was 6.73 million tons, an increase of 5.4 per cent. And the export value reached 114.41 billion yuan (about £13.61 billion; 15.41 billion euros), an increase of 16.9 per cent.

If calculated by single-month data, the tyre export situation in November was weaker than in the same period last year. Data show that China’s tyre exports in November fell by 22.6 per cent year-on-year, the most significant decline in the first 11 months, which is also the first time that tyre exports fell by more than 20 per cent this year. Meanwhile, the export value decreased by 2.6 per cent compared with the data in November 2021, the first year-on-year decline in 2022; the export weight decreased by 15.7 per cent, which is also the most significant decline in 2022.

The tyre export data in November was affected by multiple factors. From late October to November, China adopted the last round of lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and tyre factories in many provinces, such as Shandong, Anhui, and Guangdong, were affected. The customs data in November proves that the epidemic blockade harmed China’s tyre exports to a certain extent.

Meanwhile, since the total demand in overseas markets has not increased significantly, the eye-catching performance in the first half of the year results in China’s tyre exports weakening after September. In the first half of 2022, China’s tyre exports showed a positive trend, with a substantial increase year-on-year. Another reason for the decline in China’s tyre export data is that the global economy has increased downward pressure in the second half of the year, and the demand for tyres in overseas markets is not strong. In addition, the new production capacity of some Chinese tyre companies’ overseas factories has been put into operation in the past year, and the products produced are mainly sold to the international market, which also weakens China’s tyre export data.