China produces 350 mln auto tyres in '08, up 6%

The latest data from China Rubber Industry Association show that the country produced 350 million auto tyres in 2008, up 6% from 2007. Of that output, there were 260 million radial tyres, up 13% year on year, said sina.com today.

The profits of the tyre industry fell by 50.9% from 2007, mainly because the prices of raw materials for the rubber industry underwent drastic ups and downs in 2008, which greatly affected the Chinese and global tyre markets.

The global financial crisis and auto market downturn have reduced the demand for tyres in the European and American markets. As a result, the export-oriented tyre manufacturers in China saw a sharp drop in their exports and had their tyre stockpiles mounting up.

In the second half of last year, many car tyre companies in China began to cut their outputs due to the mounting inventories and difficult fund flow. At the end of December, only half of the tyre production lines in the country were still in operation.

However, the domestic and global demands for China's radial tyres have been growing steadily. The Chinese-brand tyres will play a big role in shoring up the market demand, which may surge if the auto market begins to recover in mid-2009.

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