Chinese tyre export value increases for three consecutive years

In March 2023, China exported 52.98 million new pneumatic rubber tyres, a year-on-year increase of 12.3 per cent. After experiencing a downturn in January, China’s tyre exports substantially grew in the last two months of the first quarter. Due to the sluggish performance in January, the export volume of Chinese tyres from January to March was 139 million, an increase of only 1.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2022.

The strong trend of China’s tyre exports in March does not mean that China’s exports have fully recovered. An important reason for the sharp year-on-year increase in the single-month data in March is that the tyre export performance in March 2022 was relatively poor. From 2020 to 2022, the number of tyres exported by China in March each year was 41.99 million, 51.02 million, and 47.27 million. The export volume in 2023 was 52.98 million pieces, a modest increase compared to the 2021 figure (51.02 million pieces). If the time frame is enlarged to the first quarter, China’s tyre exports in the past three years (2021-2023) were 142 million, 138 million and 139 million, respectively, maintaining a relatively stable range.

What deserves attention is the tyre export value in the first quarter of 2023. The total value of China’s tyre exports from January to March increased by 20.4 per cent year-on-year. In other words, in the first quarter, the number of Chinese tyre exports was similar to that of the previous year, but the export value increased by about 20 per cent. An important reason for the increase in export value is that the exported tyres show a trend of increasing size and weight. Under the premise that the export volume is not much different, in the first quarter of 2023, the export weight of Chinese tyres increased by 11.6 per cent compared with the same period in 2022.

China’s tyre export value in the first quarter has increased year-on-year for three consecutive years. Compared with 2020, the value of tyre exports from January to March 2021 increased by 21.5 per cent. This figure is understandable given the substantial increase in tyres exported (from 102 million pieces to 142 million pieces). In March 2021, many countries were severely affected by the epidemic. In the first quarter of 2022, the export value increased by 9.8 per cent in the case of a decline in export volume and weight. In 2023, China’s tyre export value increased by 20.4 per cent over the previous year.

Tyrepress China removed the data for 2022 and only compared the export data for 2021 and 2023 to give readers a deeper understanding of the changes in tyre exports in the past three years. From January to March 2021, China exported 142 million pieces of tyres with a total weight of 1.72 million tons and an export value of 25.26 billion yuan. In the first quarter of 2023, the three items of data are 139 million pieces (2.1% decrease from 2021), 1.91 million tons (11% increase), and 33.38 billion yuan (32% increase). What is certain is that the size and weight of tyres exported from China are increasing compared with two years ago. But even considering that, a 32 per cent increase is a staggering number.