U.S. industry growth pegged at 0.4% — RMA

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 8, 2017) — Demand for tires this year in the U.S. will plateau at the 2016 levels, according to the latest Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) industry forecast, which predicts 0.4-percent growth in car, light and medium truck/bus tire shipments.

The replacement market forecast is split, with slight growth projected for passenger (0.3 percent) and light truck tires (0.9 percent), whereas aftermarket truck/bus tire shipments are expected to drop 1.4 percent.

The RMA did not elaborate on any market trends that may have influenced its projections. Total shipments are expected to rise to 319.8 million units.

On the OE side of the ledger, the RMA sees 1.5- and 0.5-percent growth in passenger and light truck tire shipments, respectively, and no growth for truck tire shipments.

This relatively lackluster forecast follows a year when replacement car tire shipments grew slightly — 1.9 percent to 208.6 million units — but production, export and imports all came up shy of 2015, as did truck tire production and exports.

Last year, replacement and original equipment light truck tire shipments grew 9.4 and 12.3 percent, respectively, fed by 7.2 percent greater production (to 28.3 million units) and 13.9 percent higher imports.