Asia's major tire manufacturers, which were deeply affected by the weak export market, have recently been bailing in their own hands to resist the intention of increasing prices of polybutadiene rubber makers. Asian polybutadiene rubber producers plan to increase the prices of products delivered in February and March by 300 to 500 US dollars (t price, the same below).
Due to the continuous and substantial increase in raw material butadiene prices, butadiene rubber producers reported prices of 3,600 to 3,800 U.S. dollars (CFR, Asia) in February and March on January 19, up from the price of January by more than 10%. %.
A tire manufacturer in India stated that we are very dissatisfied with the current situation, because at the end of November last year when raw material butadiene prices fell to 1,500 US dollars, butadiene rubber manufacturers did not adjust prices downward. The current market sentiment is still weak, so we will not accept butadiene rubber producers' attempts to significantly increase prices in February and March.
According to ICIS data, as of the week of January 13, Asian butadiene prices rose to US$3050 to US$3,100 (CFR, Northeast Asia), which almost doubled compared to prices two months ago. However, Asian tire manufacturers are currently under pressure from the weak export market. In a weak global environment, any drastic increase in product prices is difficult to implement.
Asia is the world's major tire production center, and a considerable portion of its output is exported to Europe. At present, Europe is experiencing a debt crisis and demand has dropped significantly. According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, despite the significant increase in the number of newly licensed cars in the euro zone’s largest auto market, the number of newly licensed cars in the European Union decreased by 1.7% year-on-year in 2011. According to the association, most of the automotive markets in Europe fell in 2011, with France falling by 2.1%, the United Kingdom by 4.4%, Italy by 10.9%, and Spain by 17.7%. In 2011, the number of new licenses in Germany reached 3.17 million, an increase of 8.8%. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the growth rate of China's auto sales and production in 2011 was 2.45% and 0.84% respectively, which was the lowest level in 13 years.
The slowdown in global car sales growth has made tyre manufacturers’ attitudes more cautious. A tire manufacturer said that due to the continued spread of the debt crisis in the Eurozone and the impact of the global economic outlook, Asian tire export growth in the first quarter of 2012 is expected to slow or remain flat. They are currently very cautious and are not preparing to build inventory. In the first quarter, polybutadiene rubber will not be significantly increased.
On the other hand, polybutadiene rubber manufacturers are also trying to deal with losses caused by the continuous rise in butadiene raw material prices. A polybutadiene rubber manufacturer in Northeast Asia said that the prices of raw materials butadiene and polybutadiene rubber are currently at almost the same level. We are experiencing losses. The sharp increase in raw material butadiene has eroded all of us. Profit.
According to the ICIS data, the price of Asian polybutadiene rubber for the week ending January 12 was US$3,250-3,400 (CFR, Northeast Asia), and the spread between butadiene and butadiene was only US$200-300. For butadiene rubber producers, to make a profit, the spread must be kept between 600 and 700 dollars. Under these circumstances, some polybutadiene rubber manufacturers in China, South Korea, and Taiwan, China have already adopted production cuts to cope with the sharp rise in raw material costs. A polybutadiene rubber manufacturer in Taiwan, China, said: “We have already suffered a loss and we plan to reduce the operating rate of the plant to 70% in February.”
