Tire Prices Rise 2%-7% Industry-Wide, Yet Companies Still Struggle to Profit(Oct 26)

Tire Prices Rise 2%-7% Industry-Wide, Yet Companies Still Struggle to Profit

Source: Sina Finance / First Windfall

Since October, the fourth round of tire price hikes this year has continued to escalate. Recently, Zhongce Rubber, Sailun, Linglong Tire, Jianxin, and Prinx Chengshan haveintensively issued price increase notices. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 100 tire companies have issued price hike letters since September, with increases mostly ranging from 2% to 7%.

However, from the tire manufacturers' perspective, despite continuous price increases, they still cannot keep pace with the rising costs of natural rubber, carbon black, and other raw materials, describing the hikes as "defensive bloodletting."

This round of price increases covers all-steel tires, semi-steel tires, and off-the-road tires. For example, Zhongce Rubber raised prices of certain all-steel specifications by 2%-3% starting October 16; Sailun increased TBR (truck and bus all-steel tire) prices by 5%-7% starting November 1; Jianxin raised all TBR prices by 3%-5% starting October 25.

The European Commission released the pre-disclosure of the final anti-subsidy ruling on Chinese passenger car and light truck tires on October 19. The combined duty rate for companies cooperating with both anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations ranges from 27.50% to 57.09%, with the lowest at 27.50% and the highest at 57.09%. This means the tax base for direct exports from China to the EU has been significantly raised, though the impact is primarily on products exported directly from China.

Cost pressure is a shared challenge across the industry, but the ability to pass on price increases depends on each company's position in the supply chain and revenue structure. Western Securities pointed out that international trade barriers are reshaping the global tire supply structure, and companies with global factory layouts still have significant room for growth. In other words, companies that havein advance transferred EU orders to overseas bases are less affected by tariffs; those without overseas capacity and bearing the full national duty face greater pressure.

For example, Sailun Tire previously stated it had successively transferred EU semi-steel tire orders to Southeast Asian factories. In the first half of 2026, Sailun achieved revenue of 20.027 billion yuan, up 13.88% year-on-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders of 2.16 billion yuan, up 17.97%. Overseas revenue accounted for 76.93% of main business revenue, with an overseas gross margin of 27.33%, higher than the domestic 25.63%.

In contrast, Linglong Tire, with a higher proportion of domestic OEM business and weaker pricing power in theOEM market, saw first-half revenue of 12.733 billion yuan, up 7.80%, but net profit of only 101 million yuan, down 88.13% year-on-year. Overseas revenue share dropped from 48% to 33%, with foreign exchange losses of 437 million yuan.

Industry insiders noted that the tire industry's current pressure stems from a triplecombination of "structurally tight raw materials + EU dual-anti tax base hikes + weakening terminal demand." Only companies with better revenue structures, stronger overseas capacity layouts, and higher gross margins can withstand the shock and navigate through the trough.

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