Tyre production declines 9% in March

Tyre production in the country fell in March, leading to much lower cumulative growth in 2011-12. Production (all categories) fell nine per cent in March, but was up 1.7 per cent cumulatively during 2011-12. This is against a 14 per cent rise in April-February of 2010-11.

In March, a total of 10 million tyres were produced, against 11 million in the same month last year. Except in March, in all the remaining 11 months of the last financial year, production recorded positive growth.

Total production during the last financial year was 120 million tyres as against 118 million tyres in 2010-11. The fast moving passenger car and truck/bus segments recorded lower growth in 2011-12 at four and three per cent, respectively, while the best performance was in the three-wheeler segment, which registered a rise of 15 per cent.

Sixteen million truck/bus tyres were produced in 2010-11 against 15.6 million and passenger car tyre production was 26.4 million, against 25 million, according to data from the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association. A total of 1.1 million scooter (two-wheeler and moped) tyres were produced in 2011-12, up seven per cent from 2010-11. Motorcycle tyre production was up four per cent to 3.7 million in 2011-12. However, in March, scooter tyre production dropped six per cent and motorcycle tyre production dropped five per cent.

Exports rise 23%
Exports recorded 23 per cent increase in 2011-12, as the total shipments were eight million tyres. This was 6.5 million in the previous financial year. The most impressive performance was in the scooter segment, with a whopping growth of 197 per cent. Total exports in this segment were 149,088 tyres, against 50,136 in the previous financial year. A total 40 per cent growth was recorded in export in the passenger car segment, at 1.6 million tyres. Around 2.2 million truck/bus tyres were shipped, a rise of 12 per cent.