Cambodia now among leading tire exporters to U.S.

WASHINGTON — The seemingly endless upward trajectory of tire imports into the U.S. has ended — quite abruptly — in the first quarter of 2023 after plateauing in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Imports of passenger and light truck tires fell by double digits — down 10.8% and 22.5%, respectively — in the quarter versus the first three months of 2022, while imports of truck/bus tires were off 5.2%.

The declines are the first quarter-to-quarter drop-offs since mid-2020 and reflect falling aftermarket demand throughout the U.S. Nearly all of the major tire makers reported lower unit sales volumes in North America in the first quarter, according to their respective earnings reports.

The drop-off also should be seen against a particularly robust first quarter in 2022, when the industry was seeking to restock depleted reserves.

At the same time, the data — culled from the U.S. Census Bureau — show that Cambodia has emerged as a significant country of origin— for tires being sold in the U.S.

Car and light truck tire imports from that Southeast Asian nation — where Chinese producers Sailun Group and Jiangsu General Science Technology Co. Ltd. (JGST) have factories up and running — increased 50- and 40-fold, respectively, in the first quarter of 2023, the Census Bureau figures show.

One company known to be importing from Cambodia is Sailun Tire Americas, which is rolling out its RoadX associate brand to the U.S. market through a preferred distribution agreement with the Independent Tire Dealers Group. Sailun opened its plant in Svay Rieng, Cambodia, in November 2021.

Car tire imports from Cambodia topped 1 million units, which contrasts with fewer than 20,000 units a year earlier. The average declared customs value of a Cambodian car tire import was $34.04, the lowest value among the 10 largest countries of origin for U.S. imports in the quarter.

That contrasts with the industry average of $61.31 as well as the averages of $82.24 and $80.76 reported for products from Mexico and Japan.Cambodia's exports of 283,074 light truck tires to the U.S. places it eighth among nations shipping tires to the U.S. and contrasts with just 6,694 units shipped in the 2022 quarter, the Census Bureau's figures show.

Imports from Cambodia are likely to keep rising as Sailun ramps up deliveries of its RoadX brand and JGST starts tapping its plant there for product. China's Qingdao Double Star Co. Ltd. also has unveiled plans to build a tire factory in Cambodia, with production scheduled to start as early as mid-2024.

The customs value of a Cambodian light truck tire was $59.82, slightly higher than that for Vietnam ($56.79) but measurably lower than the category average of $85.67 and high of $121.99 (Japan).

Thailand continues as No. 1 in the three main import categories, even though shipments from there were down by double digits in all three.

The truck/bus category's import shipments decline of 5.2% reflects double-digit drops in exports from Thailand, Vietnam, China, India and Spain, offsetting higher shipments from Japan (49.3%) and South Korea (17.1%).

The Census Bureau figures also show a drastic rise in prices for tires across the board.

The average declared customs value of a passenger tire in the 2023 quarter, for example, is 25.9% higher than that a year ago, $61.31 versus $48.71.

In light truck tires, the average 2023 value of $85.67 is 18.8% higher than the $72.13 recorded a year ago.

In the medium truck/bus category, the 2023 value of $194.74 is 24.7% higher than the $156.15 of the first quarter 2022, reflecting a dichotomy among the nations exporting to the U.S.

Shipments from Japan and Slovakia, whose customs values are both north of $300 per tire, were up 49.3% and 26.9%, respectively, whereas imports from nations whose tires are priced measurably lower were down in most cases.