From Guangrao to the World: what’s new at the Guangrao tyre exhibition

The 2023 Guangrao tyre exhibition came to an end on May 17, bringing to an end its first live show – held “offline” – since 2019. Tyrepress attended the three-day 2023 exhibition, and noted similarities with the past but also some changes in exhibitors and visitors to the show. This article was originally posted in Chinese on our sister website, Tyrepress China.

Enterprise integration is gradually completed

A few years ago, the tyre industry in Guangrao underwent integration and reorganisation due to many factors. After undergoing multiple rounds of reshuffling, the local tyre industry has achieved industrial upgrading. At the 2023 Guangrao tyre exhibition, Huasheng, Zhongyi, Jinyu, Hengfeng, Fangxing, Yongsheng and other well-known local tyre companies have booths.

It is worth noting that at this year’s exhibition, it is more common for the names of multiple companies to appear on the same booth. Integrating numerous enterprises into one system shows the integration of the entire industry to some extent. Industry integration is not limited to Guangrao but also covers tyre companies in many places. On the booths of Huger and Yuanfeng Rubber, the names of Wuchan Zhongda Utech were placed. The terms of Shandong Daye and Snton steel cord are put together. Huitong officially entered the rubber sector of Zaozhuang Mining Group and appeared at the same time as Fengyuan and Bayi Rubber. Kaixuan, acquired in 2023, was exhibited on the same stage as Zodo.

There were also some changes in the products on display. At the entrance of the exhibition hall, two sets of giant tyres belong to Yinbao 40.00R57 and Xingda 46/90 R57, respectively. Tyrepress China noticed several tyre manufacturers displayed OTR products at the 2023 Guangrao tyre exhibition. These enterprises include Guizhou Tyre, Huitong, Sanli, and Wuyi, which traditionally have production capacity for off-road tyres. Some well-known tyre companies in the field of PCR and TBR also displayed OTR products at the Guangrao tyre exhibition. Among them, Sailun and Longmarch are more representative. In particular, Sailun showed OTR products under the Maxam brand.

OTR tyres of the Maxam brand on display at Sailun (Photo: Tyrepress China/Xuda Wang)

OTR has been considered a tyre market with great potential in recent years. Tyrepress China learned that many Chinese tyre companies had expanded their off-road tyre production capacity after 2022. The OTR products of Chinese brands such as Triangle have been widely praised in the European market. The trend of Chinese tyre companies seizing the off-highway tyre market is also reflected in the 2023 Guangrao tyre exhibition.

The changes in the exhibition of Guangrao in 2023 are also reflected in the brand of the tyres. The internationalisation of Chinese tyre brands may have been traced a few years ago. However, this feeling is powerful at the Guangrao tyre exhibition in 2023. Ralph is a buyer from Zimbabwe. He told Tyrepress China that two well-known tyre brands owned by a famous Chinese tyre company have entirely different situations in the Zimbabwean market. Among them, brands named in English are household names in this African country. Another brand composed of pinyin is well-known in China but has yet to be discovered in Zimbabwe. The emergence of this contrast may be related to the business strategy of tyre manufacturers. English brands are more popular overseas than Chinese Pinyin, which may be another answer to this question.

At the Guangrao tyre exhibition in 2023, Tyrepress China observed that the English names of tyre brands displayed by many companies are more in line with the English context, such as “Roadboss”, “Drivermaster”, and “Grenlander”. The tyre brand has an easy-to-understand English name, which on the one hand, shows that Chinese tyre products are becoming more and more “international”. On the other hand, it also indicates that Chinese tyre companies have made sufficient preparations to enter the international market.

Industry gathering attributes have not changed

In 2018, the author learned at the Guangrao tyre exhibition that many tyre industry practitioners gathered in Guangrao during the show. As an essential tyre production base in China, Dongying City, where Guangrao County is located, and the surrounding Weifang City gather many tyre manufacturing factories. Before 2019, many distributors took the opportunity of participating in the Guangrao exhibition to visit and communicate with the manufacturing factory. Tyre manufacturers also often invite large distributors to negotiate business during this period.

Five years later, this exhibition is still a crucial gathering period for practitioners in the Chinese tyre industry. After 2019, the Chinese tyre industry needs more opportunities to communicate together. Therefore, the 2023 Guangrao tyre exhibition is particularly lively. Enterprises such as Wanda Boto, Zodo, Huasheng and Zhongyi have organised large-scale dealer teams to gather. According to reports, 400 people participated in the dealer meeting of Zodo.

Sumardio Hong runs the tyre and manufacturing machinery business in Medan, Indonesia, and has participated several times in the Guangrao tyre exhibition. He told Tyrepress China that after participating in this year’s show, he plans to stay in China for a few more days and visit some manufacturing companies. In Sumardio’s view, the Guangrao tyre exhibition is a comprehensive exhibition that allows him to have the opportunity to communicate with tyre companies and machinery companies within a few days. He said: “Every time I come, I will fine-tune the products I operate according to the on-site procurement situation. I am pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the Guangrao tyre exhibition in 2023.”

With the same plan as Sumardio Hong, Mike Laird also took advantage of the opportunity of the Guangrao tyre exhibition to stay in China for a while. Mike is mainly engaged in the tyre and wheel business in New Zealand. This trip to Guangrao is his first visit to China after 2019. He said that after the Guangrao tyre exhibition, he would visit manufacturing companies for about three weeks. As for the Guangrao tyre exhibition, one of its significant advantages is that it is close to tyre manufacturing companies, allowing buyers to see multiple companies simultaneously.

The Guangrao tyre exhibition in 2023 has attracted many new customers. Ralph is one such example. He runs a company in Hangzhou, China, specialising in the China-Zimbabwe tyre trade. Previously, Ralph purchased tyres through Alibaba. It was his first time participating in the Guangrao tyre exhibition, and he told Tyrepress China that when he came to Guangrao to communicate with the factory face to face, he realised that the previous purchase price was much higher.

For the Guangrao tyre exhibition, the gradual increase of foreign business people is a change. However, some tyre companies also believe domestic sales are still mainstreaming the Guangrao tyre exhibition. The director of the foreign trade business of an exhibitor told Tyrepress China by phone that he did not participate in the show. For their company, domestic sales personnel gathered at the booth. At the booth of a large tyre manufacturer, an unnamed domestic salesperson told Tyrepress China that he felt that the dealers participating in the 2023 Guangrao tyre exhibition were mainly large and small and rarely saw medium-sized tyre dealers.