Rubber auxiliaries have been in short supplies in recent months in China, with the prices getting higher and higher.
Quite a few tire manufacturers rush to purchase the auxiliaries for future use. Whether it is necessary? The website of www.tireworld.com has issued a questionaire on that.
Environmental protection campaigns lead to short auxiliary supply
About 87 percent of the interviewees attributed the short supply of auxiliaries to production cut or suspension during the environmental protection campaigns.
Some 7 percent of the interviewees said the overstocking of downstream manufacturers have led to the short supply of auxiliaries.
Another 3 percent said the short supply came after the auxialiry suppliers became reluctant to sell.
A batch of small factories producing auxiliaries have been shut down during the environmental protection campaigns across China.
Tire makers rush to purchase auxiliaries for future production
Some 23 percent of the interviewees said it is necessary for the tire manufacturers to stock auxiliaries for future use, while 38 percent denied the necessity. Another 39 percent said it should depends on the production of tires.
Some transnational tire makers such as Michelin have also noticed the situation and came to China to discuss on the auxliary business.
China accounts for about 75 percent of global rubber auxiliary production.The outage of auxiliaries will hurt tire production around the world.
Short supply possibly to maintain in near future
Some 42 percent of the interviewees expected the short-supply condition will not change until the winter ends, when the environmental protection policies loosen again.
Winter in China sees the most severe environmental protection policies, because most of the hazy weather happens in winter. If nothing else, the most severe policies last from October 2017 to March 2018.
Some 18 percent of the interviewees expected the short supply to maintain for quite long due to the mass fervour of overstocking.
The rest 40 percent said it is hardly to see how long it will take.
