Indian tyre industry alarmed by slowdown in China and devaluation of Yuan

The recent slow down in Chinese markets and devaluation of yuan have alarmed the Indian tyre industry. The weaker yuan is likely to fuel the dumping of cheap Chinese tyres into the country. According to Rajiv Budhraja of Tyre Manufacturing Association, the Chinese tyre imports have been increasing at a dramatic rate and points that for every four truck tyres sold in India, one of them is a Chinese radial.

Rajiv Budhraja further said, "In 2013-14, the average import volume was about 40,000 truck radial tyres a month. In 2014-15, that almost doubled to about 80,000-85,000 per month. Ever since the beginning of this fiscal, the imports have been averaging above 100,000. So, you can see it is almost 2.5 times increase in recent months and these volumes are only rising."

Due to the anti-dumping policy of the US, the Chinese tyre manufacturers are having a hard time selling their products there therefore, they are now pushing their products in Indian Markets. India does have anti-dumping policy for commercial vehicle tyres but not for passenger car tyres.

The tyres imported from China are cheaper by 25-30 per cent as compared to the India-manufactured ones and the further devaluation of yuan has made the Chinese tyres even cheaper. According to Rajiv, Indian manufacturers won't be able to cover the raw material cost at that price. He further goes on to comment about the lengthy and cumbersome implementation of anti-dumping duty from China and said unless the government quickens the process and puts its on a fast-track, the situation would continue to worsen.