There are not many days left in 2020, and there are only a dozen days left at the end of the day. Looking back at the tire market in 2020, it was a mess. The anxiety was shrouded from the beginning of the year and was still strong at the end of the year. The unprepared epidemic, sudden trade barriers, and continuously increasing tire prices...
The overall market is experiencing a cold winter
The beginning of 2020 still feels like a dream. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, the market has been shut down, the operating rate of tire companies has seriously declined, market demand has dropped sharply, and tire exports have encountered unprecedented Waterloo. Fortunately, China took strong measures to quickly recover the market; but then, foreign epidemics began to break out one after another, and the global tire market fell into a trough again.
1. European market
Europe imported 84 million passenger car tires (PCLT) from January to August 2020, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 20%. From January to August 2019 28 Each EU member state imported approximately 105 million passenger car tires (PCLT) in a row. The decrease was mainly due to the significant impact of the COVID-19 epidemic. In the first eight months of this year, the number of imported tires in Europe dropped each month, especially in May and June, where the declines reached 50 and 45 respectively. The decline began to narrow in July and August, and the import volume in August decreased year-on-year. About 12.
2. The U.S. market
The most difficult thing in the tire market this year is undoubtedly the U.S. tire companies. In early December 2020, the American Tire Manufacturers Association once again discussed tire shipments in 2020. New forecast data are given. U.S. tire shipments are expected to be approximately 298.3 million units in 2020, a decrease of approximately 10% compared to 332.7 million units in 2019, or approximately 34.4 million units. Among them, shipments of original tires for passenger cars and trucks will increase. A sharp decline.
The outbreak of the global trade war
On May 13, 2020, U.S. time, the United Steelworkers (USW) announced that it had submitted a report to the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission regarding issues from South Korea. , Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty applications for so-called "dumped and subsidized" passenger car and light truck tires.
USW stated in its petition to the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission that Thailand’s dumping margin is as high as 217%, South Korea’s dumping margin is as high as 195%, Taiwan’s dumping margin is as high as 147%, and Vietnam’s dumping margin is as high as 33%. The petition also details the many government subsidies that benefit Vietnamese tire producers, including loans, tax breaks and grants.
On November 3, 2020, U.S. time, the U.S. Department of Commerce decided to continue to impose anti-dumping duties of up to 87.99 on passenger car tires imported from China after imposing anti-dumping duties for five years. The decision follows a "fast sunset review" of the original 2015 order by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Tire factories continue to close
The raging new coronavirus epidemic around the world has made the already sluggish tire market worse. Almost every day, tire factories are shutting down or reducing production. The impact of this sudden epidemic on the global tire industry can be said to be unprecedented. According to the latest statistics from the tire business, as of April 1, almost all of the world's leading tire manufacturers have been significantly affected by factory closures, and the losses to the entire tire industry are currently incalculable.
The following is information on factory closures of some tire companies (as of April 6, 2020). In the first half of this year, almost all tire factories in countries that are significant in tire production are shutting down. Some New factories are entering the process of closing down, and at the same time, some factories that have already been shut down are continuing to shut down, and the time has come to enter the "unknown" mode.
Frugally cut down on food and clothing
As early as mid-March this year, when the overseas epidemic began to rage, Michelin had a premonition of a "severe recession" in the second quarter and took decisive measures A number of measures have been taken to reduce losses, including weekly tracking of supply and demand to control inventory; reducing capital expenditures by 500 million euros; and reducing overhead expenses.
Bridgestone plans to reorganize its production bases. It can be basically inferred that some backward production bases will be closed down in the future while increasing the production capacity of advanced production bases. There will be a "strict selection of investment projects" in the coming years to rebuild profitability. The strategy calls for achieving "operational excellence" in the group's core business areas by maximizing the use of existing equipment and increasing productivity.
Japanese tire company Yokohama has also felt the crisis and made it clear that it will take a number of measures, including enhancing short-term liquidity through optimal fundraising; reducing capital expenditures and cutting costs; expenses, and reduced compensation for directors, officers, and deputy officers.
China's tire exports have mixed results
The United States recently released tire import data for the third quarter. China's overall export volume of passenger car tires ranked ninth, down 12.40% year-on-year. China's truck and bus tire exports to the United States ranked third in the third quarter, with the export number of 352,100 units, a decrease of 37.7% year-on-year. What is surprising is that the number of light trucks exported from China to the United States increased by 71.40% compared with the third quarter of last year, and the growth rate is very impressive.
“In troubled times, heroes emerge.” The more turbulent the market, the tire companies that can withstand the test will live longer. At present, almost all international tire giants have experienced a century of turmoil. The harsh international tire environment has allowed many domestic tire companies to see opportunities and expand and develop rapidly. While foreign tire companies are losing money, domestic tire companies are seeing both net profit and revenue growth. Don’t seek to overtake in corners, but seek to close the gap. A century-old gap cannot be achieved overnight!
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.