All-Steel Radial Tire Market: Structural Shifts

In 2026, China's all-steel radial tire market is undergoing a profound structural transformation. The industry has completely departed from the traditional cycle of general price increases and decreases, entering a new phase characterized by demand differentiation, intensified competition, and profit restructuring. From the demand side, the market exhibits a slight increase in total volume but a contraction in specific sectors.

This pattern is not due to single-market fluctuations, but is essentially the result of a two-way resonance between the cyclical adjustment of commercial vehicles and the structural changes in the logistics industry, with problems such as supply-demand mismatch, overcapacity, and channel pressure continuing to emerge.

In the upstream OEM market, 2026 marks the beginning of a new round of replacement cycles for domestic commercial vehicles, with the accelerated elimination of older heavy-duty trucks meeting only the National IV emission standard or below.

This provides some support for the original equipment demand for all-steel radial tires, and there is an expectation of a demand rebound. However, the sales volume of the heavy-duty truck industry fluctuates significantly and is extremely unstable. Affected by multiple factors such as the slowdown in infrastructure investment, weak demand for long-haul freight, and tightened regulations in the construction waste transportation industry, terminal sales fluctuate, failing to form sustained growth. 

These significant fluctuations directly impacted the original equipment tire market, leading to unstable orders for tire manufacturers and difficulty in continuously improving capacity utilization. The industry's annual output growth remained at a low level of only around 1%, with very limited room for further increases.

The competition in the downstream replacement market is even more intense, becoming a core factor squeezing industry profits. In recent years, the logistics industry has accelerated its transformation and upgrading, with small and medium-sized individual transport companies gradually exiting the market, while large-scale, intensive logistics enterprises have taken a dominant position, making cost control a prominent industry focus.

In 2026, the profit growth rate of the logistics industry slowed down, and the operational pressure on enterprises continued to rise, forcing a complete shift in procurement strategies towards cost-sensitive approaches. In tire replacement procurement, large logistics fleets abandoned the previous on-demand replacement model, prioritizing high-performance, low-priced tires, significantly increasing their price sensitivity and essentially abandoning brand premiums and additional service premiums.

Against this backdrop, price competition in the domestic replacement market has become increasingly fierce. Currently, the industry as a whole is in a state of overcapacity, with the capacity utilization rate of all-steel radial tires remaining at a low level of just over 60%. A large amount of idle capacity is forcing leading companies and small and medium-sized manufacturers to exchange price for volume, further driving down market prices.

The price war, cascading through various levels of distribution channels, has continuously squeezed the profit margins of distributors and retailers, rendering the traditional price difference profit model ineffective. Meanwhile, the fluctuating prices of raw materials such as natural rubber in 2026 have kept tire manufacturers under high cost pressures, preventing upstream costs from being effectively passed on to downstream customers, resulting in an industry predicament of "high costs, low selling prices, and thin profits."

Overall, the structural changes in the all-steel radial tire market in 2026 are primarily characterized by insufficient demand growth, continued intensified competition, and a comprehensive contraction in profitability.

The industry is unlikely to escape a state of weak recovery and intense competition in the short term. Market competition is gradually shifting from traditional scale and price competition to more refined competition based on quality, adaptability, and comprehensive services, marking the industry's entry into a deep reshuffling phase of structural adjustment.