How to Sell Waste Tires at a High Price?
The scrap tire market currently has a distinct price tier, with key differences stemming from material composition and processing value:
High-value categories: Butyl innertubes maintain a top price of 8,000 yuan/ton, over eight times the price of regular innertubes. This is due to butyl rubber's airtightness and direct recycling properties, making it widely used in high-end applications such as medical rubber products.
Beads (2,280 yuan/ton) and wire (3,390 yuan/ton) follow closely behind. The former contains high-purity wire rings that can be directly processed into sandblasting steel shot, while the latter, as a high-quality steel wire raw material, is significantly driven by demand from the steel industry.
Middle-class categories: Wire tires (1,640 yuan/ton), bead blocks (1,510 yuan/ton), and full rubber blocks (1,330 yuan/ton) constitute the market's mainstays. Among them, steel wire tires, with a steel content of 15%-20%, offer both rubber and metal recycling value. Prices in production areas such as Zouping, Shandong, have risen by 18.89% since the beginning of the year.
Basic processed products: rubber powder (1,800 yuan/ton), ordinary inner tubes (980 yuan/ton), and broken wire tires (850 yuan/ton) are primary processing raw materials. Although rubber powder has a low unit price, it is widely used in waterproofing membranes, modified asphalt, and other fields, and market demand is steadily growing.
Behind the general price increase: Three factors reshape the market landscape
Scrap tire prices will continue to rise in 2025, driven by supply-demand imbalances and policy initiatives:
Supply-side contraction: National overload and load restrictions have reduced truck tire wear and extended replacement cycles by over 30%. Capacity optimization in the steel and coal industries has reduced freight volume, indirectly leading to a 12% decrease in annual scrap tire production.
Combined with the winter's low temperatures, which slow tire wear, the seasonal supply gap has further widened. Demand Explodes: Driven by the "Dual Carbon" strategy, over 30 new 200,000-ton scrap tire processing projects have been added nationwide, leading to a surge in demand for derivatives like pyrolysis oil and recycled carbon black. One project in Ningxia alone received 20 million yuan in central government subsidies, and the industry's capacity expansion has driven a rush for raw materials.
Benefiting from favorable policies: The 70% VAT rebate policy covers products like recycled oil and pyrolysis carbon black, significantly reducing costs for compliant companies. This empowers licensed companies to raise purchase prices, creating a price gap with small workshops.
Tire Sales Guide: Avoiding Pitfalls and Value-Added Techniques
In the face of a volatile market, mastering the following strategies can boost profits:
Precise Sorting Increases Profits: Selling wire tires separately from wire tires, with the former commanding nearly 1,000 yuan more per ton. Separating the bead and filaments separately can increase overall profits by 200-300 yuan per ton. Data from Shandong recyclers indicates that refined sorting can increase profit margins by 15%.
Capitalize on price windows: Summer is the peak season for tire replacements, and increased supply may lead to price corrections. It's recommended to ship in advance. Before winter arrives, stock up appropriately, anticipating price increases during peak demand. The lesson learned in 2024 by a merchant in Dezhou, Shandong, who misjudged seasonal cycles and saw their inventory costs surge 40%, serves as a cautionary tale.
Connect with compliant companies: Directly partnering with qualified cracking companies not only allows for higher purchase prices but also allows for a share of policy dividends. A recycler in Guangdong, by partnering with compliant companies, achieved a 5% premium over the market price for butyl innertubes.
