01 Top 10 Most-Watched Investment News of 2025
European Rubber Journal (ERJ) recently pointed out that driven by Chinese manufacturers, investment in the global tire and rubber industry maintained a high level in 2025. Below is the list of the annual top 10 most-watched investment projects selected by ERJ:
• American Tire Works Co., Ltd. (ATW): Its tire project has been approved, with an investment of 600 million euros to build a new passenger car tire factory in Tulsa. Finland-based Black Donuts Company will provide tire process technology. The factory will have an annual production capacity of 4.3 million tires, focusing on three categories of replacement market tires. The project has signed offtake letters of intent with five distributors. Upon commissioning, it will replace part of Asian imported tires and boost the development of the U.S. domestic brand tire market.
• Guangxi Petrochemical Company (a subsidiary of CNPC): It has completed the delivery of a new synthetic rubber production unit in Guangxi. The project includes an annual output of 120,000 tons of solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR) and an 80,000-ton SBS elastomer unit. It will mainly supply high-performance tires and special materials sectors, marking a significant progress in CNPC's capacity layout of high-end synthetic rubber.
• Linglong Tire: Plans to invest 8.7 billion RMB to build a large greenfield factory in Brazil, with a designed annual capacity of 14.7 millin high-performance radial tires and 6,000 tons of liquid reclaimed rubber. The construction will be carried out in three phases and completed by 2032. This joint venture project (in which Linglong holds 70% equity) aims to serve regional markets such as South America and improve its "7+5" global layout. It is estimated that the annual sales revenue will reach 7.7 billion RMB after production.
• Sandstone Tire Project: Launched by Saudi Arabia's Green Sea Company, in conjunction with a Chinese technology partner and Sabic. It plans to invest in a factory with an annual output of 5 million passenger car and truck/bus tires. The project is expected to start construction in 2025 and be put into production by the end of 2028, aiming to leverage Chinese technology to reduce Saudi Arabia's reliance on tire imports and promote the development of local industries.
• Hankook Tire: Has restarted the expansion project of its Hungarian factory, with an investment of approximately 540 million euros. After completion in 2027, it will add an annual commercial vehicle tire capacity of 800,000 units. The project was shelved in 2019 due to the sluggish market, with an original planned capacity of 550,000 units per year.
• Michelin Shenyang Production Base: Its capacity conversion project has been approved by the local Development and Reform Commission. With a total investment of 292 million RMB, the project will be built based on the existing factory premises. Upon completion, it will add an annual capacity of 830,000 high-performance passenger car tires with the advantage of low energy consumption.
• Zhejiang Xinhui New Materials Co., Ltd.: Plans to implement an expansion project at its Jiaxing factory in Zhejiang. By optimizing the process, it will add an annual butyl rubber capacity of 70,000 tons. After the completion of the project, the total capacity of the base will reach 120,000 tons per year. The products are mainly brominated and chlorinated butyl rubber, aiming to meet the needs of tires, medical and other fields.
• Dynasol Group: Has added an annual SSBR capacity of 20,000 tons at its Gahano base in Spain, and built an additional 10,000 tons per year SBC capacity at its Altamira base in Mexico, aiming to enhance production flexibility to meet market demand. The products are mainly used in plastic and asphalt modification, adhesives and industrial products, especially in the field of electric vehicles where demand is growing significantly.
• BKT: Announced a three-year investment plan of 35 billion rupees, targeting to double its revenue by 2030. The core is to enter the Indian passenger car and commercial vehicle tire market, accounting for 20% of its total revenue and 5% of the Indian market share by 2030. At the same time, it will expand the capacity of off-highway tires and carbon black, and improve energy self-sufficiency to consolidate its global position and support sustainable development goals.
• Kumho Tire: Announced an investment of 502 million euros to build its first European production base in Poland, which is expected to be put into production in August 2028. The first phase will have an annual passenger car tire capacity of 6 million units, and subsequent expansion will be carried out gradually according to market conditions. Meanwhile, Kumho plans to build a new factory in Hampyeong, South Korea by the end of 2027, with an annual capacity of 5.3 million tires, to undertake the production capacity relocated after the fire at its Gwangju factory.
02 Market Dynamics
• Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC): Its latest report shows that the global natural rubber market was under price pressure in November 2025 due to supply concerns caused by abnormal weather and weak demand. It is estimated that global output will increase slightly by 1.3% year-on-year in 2025, and demand is expected to grow by 0.8%. Tire trade in some regions has shown signs of recovery, and the overall market sentiment is differentiated.
• Natural rubber futures prices fluctuated within a narrow range at the end of the year, with cautious market sentiment. Rainfall in major producing countries and the growth of China's auto sales provided support for prices, but the weak auto sales in the United States and Ford's scaled-back electric vehicle strategy exerted pressure. In addition, Malaysia's Top Glove Corporation Berhad saw a substantial increase in profits due to cost optimization.
03 Industry News
• Tyres Europe: Pointed out that the EU's automotive regulatory simplification plan does not cover the tire sector, which may lead to dual regulation and result in non-compliance of qualified tire tests. It called for excluding tires from the scope of the bill and achieving the simplification goal by strengthening market supervision, emphasizing the core role of tires in safe and sustainable mobility.
• Germany's chemical and pharmaceutical industry: The number of apprenticeship positions dropped by 13% year-on-year to 8,779 in 2025, falling to the lowest level since 2021. Meanwhile, the employment rate and retention rate of apprentices in the industry both dropped to post-pandemic lows. The IG BCE (Industrial Union of Chemicals, Energy and Mining) pointed out that affected by panic, enterprises have implemented short-sighted policies, which not only mislead future skilled workers, but also damage the long-term attractiveness and reputation of the industry.
• European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) & Federation of European Chemical Distributors (FECC): Jointly called for the EU Digital Product Passport (DPP) to be implemented in a "gradual and proportionate" manner, avoiding imposing excessive burdens on enterprises due to hasty implementation. The suggestions include ensuring system interoperability, data standardization, phased implementation and the adoption of digital labels. Tires are listed as one of the key product categories for the first batch of DPP implementation under the regulation.
04 Enterprise Dynamics
• Magna Tyres Group (Netherlands-based): Announced the acquisition of Telescope Tyres Group, a leading tire service provider in Australia, to strategically strengthen its layout in the Australian market. After the integration of the two parties, the annual combined revenue is expected to reach 75 million to 80 million Australian dollars.
• Hutchinson: Joined the French eBDC initiative and will supply timing belts made of high-proportion bio-based and recycled materials for electric bicycles manufactured in France. Supported by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), the project aims to develop more durable, quiet and maintenance-free transmission technology, and expand to other electric mobility fields.
• Sumitomo Rubber Industries: Has applied recycled carbon black in mass-produced Dunlop tires for the first time. The material is made through chemical recycling of tire production waste and used tires in cooperation with Mitsubishi Chemical, and its stable performance has been verified in racing tires.
Source: Released by the China Rubber Industry Association
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