Tyre manufacturers’ body expresses concern at fall in production

The Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) has expressed its concern over the fall in production of tyres at a time when the automobile industry is coming out of recession.

Both production and exports of the domestic tyre industry have witnessed a contraction during the current financial year, say the statistics released by ATMS.

The production of medium & heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) tyres that adds about 60 per cent to the top-line of the tyre industry in India is down by 2 per cent in the first four months of the current fiscal. A larger drop of 11 per cent has been witnessed in Light Commercial Vehicles and Small Commercial Vehicle tyres.

“The tyre industry is passing through a difficult year as production growth is not only slackening but contraction is being witnessed across key tyre categories. A massive surge in dumping of cheap tyres from China is meeting a significant domestic demand while domestic capacities are lying unutilised. This does not augur well for Indian manufacturing,” said Raghupati Singhania, Chairman, ATMA.

Tyre production has also been impacted by a consistent drop in agriculture tyres production, which has fallen for the second successive year. Both tractor front and tractor rear tyre production has dropped by 11 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. However, passenger car tyres have seen a growth of 7 per cent during the current fiscal.

Tyre exports have also seen a contraction across key categories. The export of medium and heavy commercial vehicle tyres’ is down by 5 per cent. Passenger car tyres have seen a much sharper drop of 18 per cent in the current fiscal.

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