CITExpo 2023 Recovery and transformation of China’s tyre industry

In early September, the 18th China International Tire Expo (CITExpo 2023) was held in Shanghai. After three years of waiting, this year’s show attracted many dealers from overseas.

At CITExpo 2023, many tire companies revealed that this year’s business data has increased significantly year-on-year. Li Ying, marketing director of Zhongce Rubber International Business, told us that compared with other Chinese chemical industries, tire companies have shown an extremely good trend in 2023. Zhang Hui, director of Wanda Baotong, said that the operating rate of their factory has basically remained above 95%.

This good trend can be verified from the semi-annual reports of many tire companies participating in CITExpo 2023. In the first six months of 2023, Sailun's operating income reached 11.63 billion yuan (approximately 1.31 billion pounds; 1.51 billion euros), a year-on-year increase of 10.84%; Guizhou Tire's performance increased by more than 10%, reaching 4.44 billion yuan (approximately 500 million pounds; 580 million euros); Jiangsu General's operating income increased by 5.53%, reaching 2.24 billion yuan (about 250 million pounds; 290 million euros); Qingdao Double Star's revenue was also approximately 2.24 billion yuan, an increase of 15.74%.

On the whole, China's tire market is similar to China's overall economic trend this year and is at a low level. Different from the sluggish performance of the domestic market, the decline in shipping costs and the decline in the RMB exchange rate have allowed China's tire exports to usher in an explosive period in the first half of 2023. Many Chinese tire manufacturers are facing a situation where orders from overseas markets are abundant and supply exceeds demand. In the first six months of 2023, China exported approximately 300 million tires, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%; the export value was 72.077 billion yuan (approximately 8.08 billion pounds; 9.34 billion euros), an increase of 20.6%. Chinese tire companies have undoubtedly been affected by the positive exports.

At CITExpo 2023, which focuses on exports, many tire manufacturers showed their new products and new technologies. Sailun displayed semi-steel radial tires and all-steel radial tires made of liquid gold materials. In addition to Sailun, many participating tire companies also displayed their flagship products. Among them, some products of Zhengdao and Xiongying were exhibited for the first time. Zhengdao unveiled its CONQUEWIND R/T tire for the first time. The tire manufacturer said that their new product breaks the design of traditional RT tires and adopts a new shoulder structure, which greatly improves sidewall strength, grip, comfort and other properties. Eagle Tire exhibited its engineering tires ADT02 and giant tires RDT01 for the first time.

Article source: Tyrepresschina.com