Dr. Stephen Evans, secretary-general of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), opened Tyrexpo Asia 2013 with a forecast of strong global demand for tires through the coming decade. The exhibition brings together more than 250 exhibitors and runs March 19-21 at the Singapore Expo Centre.
“Following two years of disappointing economic growth, in response to the European Sovereign Debt crisis, the weak USA economic recovery and budget issues, plus the economic slowdown in China, our latest forecasts point to a period of sustained growth and strong demand for new vehicles and tires through the coming decade,” he says.
“Much of the demand will originate from China and to a lesser extent India, but from an overall perspective the years through to 2022 will be a period of opportunity for tire makers and the replacement and service sectors.”
Dr. Evans points to strong growth in OE and replacement tire sales as a result of increased vehicle production forecasts:
* OE passenger car tire sales growing from 333 million units in 2012 to 524 million units by 2022; and
* Replacement car tire sales moving from 786 million units in 2012 to 1.3 billion units by 2022.
“We believe there are currently around 1.1 billion vehicles in use around the world and predict that figure will rise to as many as 1.7 billion towards the end of the coming decade. China alone is set to reach a target of an extra 250 million vehicles over the same time frame,” he says.
With around 70% of natural rubber and 50% of synthetic rubber going into tire production, global rubber consumption is expected to follow increased tire manufacture accordingly.
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