Tire imports to the United States fell

US imports of consumer and commercial tires collapsed in the first half of 2020, reflecting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the market.

The declines, which reached 23.7% in the passenger car segment and 14.7% in the truck/bus segment, exceeded forecasts by the United States Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA), which had forecast 15% and 5% reductions for 2020, respectively.

Imports of passenger car tires in the period from January to June this year fell by 23.7%, to 58 million units, and the cost of imports fell by 27.6% to $2.88 billion. Thus, the average declared customs value of a tire fell by more than $6 - to $46 per unit.

Imports of light truck tires fell 15.1% to 11.2 million units. Import costs fell 12.6%, while average unit prices rose 3.2% to $76.86 per tire.

Imports of truck and bus tires decreased by 14.7% to 6.18 million units.

The average declared customs value per tire dropped from $173 to $161.82 per tire.

Thailand remains the No. 1 importer - the country is the leader in imports of passenger car, light truck and truck tires, and the supply of tires of the latter category increased over the period by 21.3%, which reflects an increase in the production of these products at Thai tire factories.

Imports of passenger tires from Thailand fell by 16.3% over the half year to 14.8 million units; the cost of imports was $585.1 million, the average cost of one tire was $39.46.

Next in the list of the leading importers are South Korea, Indonesia and Mexico, which significantly reduced their supply volumes in the first half of the year. Imports from Vietnam, which ranks 5th on the list, remained virtually unchanged at 4.49 million tires.

The average cost of a car tire from these countries ranged from $37.48 (Indonesia) to $63.62 (Mexico).

In the truck / bus tire segment, Thailand's exports rose to 2.29 million units, while the average customs value per tire fell by about 11% year-on-year to $129.83. In the past few months, Jiangsu General Science Technology (JGST) and Prinx Chengshan Tire have launched production at new factories in Thailand; the total capacity of these enterprises is 1.8 million tires per year.

According to the US Department of Commerce, the price range for imported truck tires in the first half of 2020 ranged from $90.72 (China) to $295.5 (Canada).

China remained in second place in the list of importers of truck and bus tires, although supplies from there decreased by 66.4%, to 725,175 thousand tires. This is followed by Japan, Canada and South Korea, with supplies from Korea more than doubling, to 488.375 thousand tires.

In the segment of light truck tires, Thailand retained the lead, despite a slight decrease in supplies: the share of this country accounted for 3.45 million tires, which is equivalent to almost 31% of total imports for the period.

The next largest were Canada, Indonesia and South Korea.

The average declared customs value of imports of a light truck tire was US $76.86, up 3.2% from a year earlier. Average values ​​among the leading countries in this category range from $49.61 (Philippines) to $96.85 (Brazil).