Tokai Carbon has raised prices across all grades of carbon black effective 1 May 2020 by 6 yen a kilogram. According to the company, the price increase is because “Due to the impact of tighter regulations on bunker fuel oil sulphur content by international Marine Organization (IMO), the index used in previous price revisions can no longer be used.
Pirelli Tire North America has announced that it will increase prices in the US for car and light truck tyres. The price increase is set to take effect from 6 April 2020.
Michelin North America says that prices for selected Michelin and BFGoodrich passenger and light truck tyres will increase by up to five per cent from 1 September. Specific details haven’t been publicly announced – Michelin invites its customers to “discuss details concerning the price increase directly with account managers.”
Effective 1 September 2019, Birla Carbon will increase specialty carbon black prices in North America by 9 per cent. All shipments made on or after this date are subject to the price increase.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems has announced a price increase of three to five per cent on its product range. The price increase will be effective from the first quarter of 2019, and will be applied globally to all brands in the Trelleborg Wheel Systems product portfolio. The manufacturer said the price increase has been driven by inflation and rising energy and labour costs.
DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers has announced that it will increase the prices of its DuPont Zytel products by the equivalent of $400 per metric tonne and DuPont Crastin products by the equivalent of $200 per metric tonne.
Michelin North America has announced increases for US national account prices of up to eight per cent for all commercial brands, products and services. The new pricing takes effect 1 December 2018. Separately, prices for car, light truck and two-wheeler tyres sold under the Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal brands in the United States and Canada will increase by up to five per cent, effective 1 January 2019.
Prices for Pirelli car and light truck tyres sold in the US market will rise from 1 January 2019. Pirelli says the increase will be up to six per cent on average; it says it is implementing the new pricing in response to higher raw materials prices and “growing investment in the development of new technologically advanced products.”
Looking at the market as a whole, online tyre prices have fallen on average since the start of 2018. According to the latest data supplied by market research specialists at Encircle Marketing, online tyre prices in August 2018 were 1 per cent lower on average than in January. However, the data is not uniform across the sector and different online tyre retailers (otherwise known as e-tailers) have different pricing policies.
Polymer producer DuPont has announce that it will increase its Zytel prices globally. Effective from 1 October, or as soon as contracts allow, DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers is increasing the price of Zytel products by the equivalent of $550 per metric tonne.
Earlier research based on point of sales system-based sell-out data shows that mid-range all-season tyres are leading market growth, followed by premium tyres (see “Mid-range all-season tyres lead market growth” for more on this). At the same time 4×4 and SUV tyres specifically appear to be driving growth. Both facts point to the hypothesis that market growth is being driven by high-value products, which makes both all-season tyres in general and SUV/4×4 all-season tyres in particular attractive parts of the tyre business to engage in. But what evidence is there that this thesis is supported by sell-out pricing?
While natural rubber production may have risen 0.2 per cent in May 2018 to 35,789 tonnes compared with 35,726 tonnes in April 2018, year-on-year production decreased 18.6 per cent.
On 13 July Orion Engineered Carbons announced it will implement price increases on all Specialty Carbon Blacks worldwide beginning 1 September 2018. According to the company, these actions are due to “continuously rising costs for raw materials and freight”.
Effective for all shipments on or after 1 August 2018, or as contracts allow, Sid Richardson Carbon is increasing prices on all carbon black products.
Effective July 1, or as soon as contracts allow, DuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers has announced that it will increase prices globally for the following products: DuPont Zytel and Zytel HTN.
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