Rubber & Tire Industry in Numbers

The global rubber and tire sector saw mixed share-price movements last week, with Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, and ZC Rubber posting modest gains, while Goodyear, Hankook, Sumitomo Rubber, and Yokohama Rubber slipped. Bridgestone closed at Yen3,425 (-1.2%), Goodyear at $6.29 (+2.1%), Hankook at KRW59,900 (-9.0%), Michelin at €33.82 (+1.5%), Nokian Tyres at €12.19 (-1.8%), Pirelli at €6.48 (+0.8%), Sumitomo Rubber at Yen2,176 (-3.6%), and Yokohama Rubber at Yen7,577 (-4.1%). Among rubber product manufacturers, Avon Technologies rose to £17.44 (+0.8%), Cooper-Standard fell to $28.06 (-2.2%), Datwyler dipped to CHF161.40 (-0.7%), Hexpol slid to SEK72.90 (-0.8%), Sanok Rubber held flat at PLN21.20, Semperit edged down to €15.00 (-0.7%), Top Glove dropped to MYR0.70 (-5.4%), and Trelleborg climbed to SEK421.40 (+1.6%).

Natural rubber futures rebounded across Far East exchanges by 19 June, with Osaka RSS3 Sept ’26 up 2.6% to JPY433.5, SHFE SCR/RSS Sept ’26 up 1.2% to CNY17,780, INE TSR Sept ’26 up 1.5% to CNY15,440, and SICOM TSR20 Sept ’26 up 1.8% to US$228.4. Synthetic rubber prices diverged, with SHFE BR Sept ’26 down 3.8% to CNY12,915. The gains were driven by firmer equity markets, a weaker yen, and renewed buying interest, while geopolitical optimism and El Niño concerns also played a role.

Capacity expansions and new projects continued apace. Wanli Tire secured Yuan2bn (€258m) via IPO to fund five projects across Cambodia, China, and Malaysia, including a Malaysian tire production base (Yuan930m), R&D upgrades (Yuan310m), and new plants in Cambodia (Yuan180m each). Bolder Industries received final permitting for an 86 ktpa end-of-life tire (ELT) processing unit in Belgium’s Port of Antwerp-Bruges, designed to divert nearly 6 million ELTs annually across two phases (43 ktpa initially). Dow plans to expand silicones manufacturing and R&D by 2027 with a $100m investment across China, Japan, and the US, including LSR production in Kentucky and Zhangjiagang, and engineering silicones in Songjiang and Fukui. Linglong Tire launched Phase II of its Serbian plant with a €500m investment to add 800,000 TBRs, 150,000 agricultural tires, 50,000 engineering tires, 100,000 retreads, and 6,000 tonnes of liquid recycled rubber annually. Nexen Tire expanded its Czech warehouse to boost storage from 530,000 to 830,000 units. Longmarch Group broke ground on a new Egyptian tire plant in Ain Sokhna, with Phase I targeting 600,000 TBRs and Phase II expanding to 1 million TBRs and adding 4.5 million car tires. Wacker Chemie opened a new silicone production site in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic, focusing on automotive and other sectors. Orion SA started up a circular carbon black facility in Qingdao, China, producing three grades. Mitsui Chemicals commissioned a 120 ktpa polyolefin elastomers plant in Singapore, though operating rates remain limited. TVS Srichakra is expanding its Indian plants with up to INR2.2bn (€20m) to lift two-wheeler capacity by 5% and off-highway tire capacity by 25%. JK Tyre is phasing expansions across Chennai and Vikrant (TBR) in India with a $530m (€454m) investment to boost group radial tire capacity by around 24% over the next few years.

Recent financial results reflected uneven performance. TSRC Corp. reported Q1/26 sales of NT$10.33bn (~flat YoY) and earnings of NT$651m (+32%). NOK Corp. posted FY26 sales of Yen738.4bn (-3.7%) and earnings of Yen33.0bn (-11.5%). Avon Technologies saw H1/26 sales of GBP160.8m (+6.8%) and earnings of GBP24.4m (+39.4%). JK Tyre reported FY26 sales of $1,746m (+11%) and earnings of $222m (+25%). Fukoku Co. posted FY26 sales of Yen90bn (+0.4%) and earnings of Yen3.8bn (-19.4%). Hankook’s tire business generated Q1/26 revenue of KRW2.57trn (+9.3%) and earnings of KRW437.5bn (+31%). Toyo Tire’s group sales fell 3.4% to Yen130.9bn in Q1/26, with earnings down 8.1% to Yen20.6bn; its tire business saw sales of Yen119.3bn (-3.6%) and earnings of Yen20bn (-8.5%). Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) reported group sales of Yen302bn (+5.0%) and earnings of Yen16.8bn (+18.8%) in Q1/26, with its tire division at Yen258bn (+6.3%) and earnings of Yen14.8bn (+35.0%). Denka’s elastomers and infrastructure segment posted FY25 sales of Yen97.5bn (-12.6%) with a segment operating loss of Yen68m versus a prior-year loss of Yen7.9bn.

In broader markets, EU new car registrations rose 3.2% year-on-year to 955,013 units in May, according to ACEA data.