LONDON --- The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) recently released its quarterly update, showcasing trends emerging within the continent's tire industry.
Here's a look at four graphics that give insights into state of the industry.
All-in-all, 2024 has been somewhat kind to ETRMA member companies, as tire sales — by unit — continue to rise. The ETRMA reports that second-quarter 2024 consumer tire unit sales rose 4% from 2023 second-quarter totals to 52.5 million units. For the first six months of the year, the sector's replacement market grew 2% to 108.9 million tires
Truck and bus tire sales are down just slightly year-over-year, coming in at 2.53 million units for the second quarter of 2024, a difference of about 1% from the second quarter of 2023. Total first-half sales were down about 5% at 5.3 million units.
Ag tire sales meanwhile are trending positively in 2024, showing second-quarter growth of about 6% compared with the same period of 2023. Sales for the second quarter were around 190,000 units. For the first half, sales were up around 3% at 402,000 units sold.
Second-quarter motorcycle and scooter tire sales are up about 7% at 2.74 million units. First-half sales were essentially flat at around 6 million units sold.
"After a negative trend in full year 2023 with -8 percent in consumer and -17 percent in truck (versus 2022), the evolution in volumes in first half of 2024 improved in consumer, mainly thanks to the all-seasons segment but remained negative in truck," ETRMA Secretary General Adam McCarthy said in a statement.
"The second quarter was better than the first quarter, even if the inflationary and the geopolitical context led to a drop in demand and a reduction of inventory levels."
According to the ETRMA, imports into Europe have "increased substantially" throughout the last decade, but imports from China are growing exponentially.
China's share of European imports grew to 71.2% from 59% in 2023.
"Volumes from China rose by more than 10 million units in both 2022 and 2023, and by the end of 2023 were over 40 million units higher than in 2015," the ETRMA said.
The imports from China so far this year are on par with the first half of 2023, coming in at around 70.6% of all imports.
In the first half, P/LT imports rose 10% with, a significant increase in volumes from South Korea.
In 2017, China-made truck/bus tires dominated the import scene in Europe, accounting for more than 70% of imports, but implementation of tariffs in 2018 led to a 75% drop by 2019.
As China's share of the tire imports fell, imports from other Asian countries rose, the ETRMA said. Thailand has emerged as the leading importer of truck/bus tires into Europe, accounting for 33.8% of total imports last year. Vietnam accounted for 19.3% percent in 2023, with China at 18.5%.
For greater perspective, from 2021 to 2022, the number of tires imported from China jumped to 7 million from 5.7 million but dipped last year to 6.6 million tires.
In the first half of 2024, the number of imported truck/bus tires was down from the year-ago period at 2.98 million units from 3.34 million.
So far, this year, Thailand is leading importer accounting for 30.3% of the total, while China and Vietnam following with 22.3% and 21.9% of the total, respectively.
While miles driven declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of vehicle miles traveled in Europe has continued to recover.
"Across Europe, miles traveled by light vehicles (cars and light commercials) increased by 2.1 percent in 2023 but remained slightly below pre-pandemic levels," the ETRMA said.
"Miles traveled for vans are already above pre-COVID levels, partly due to the pandemic-related boom in home deliveries. By the end of 2023, miles traveled for cars remained 2 percent below the volumes achieved in 2019 and are only expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2025."
The ETRMA notes that the rise of hybrid working is likely impacting the number of miles traveled as workers are spending more time in the office, but maybe not as much as before 2020.
"The decline in demand for car-based commuting appears to have been counterbalanced by a relative increase in demand for leisure travel, with higher traffic volumes at weekends," teh trade group said.
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