China exported 790,000 tons of new pneumatic tires in July 2026, according to China's General Administration of Customs. The total marks a 10.2% decline both year-on-year and month-on-month, per data reported by SunSirs.
Key Facts
- China exported 790,000 tons of new pneumatic tires in July 2026, down 10.2% year-on-year.
- Month-on-month, exports also fell 10.2%, matching the year-on-year decline exactly.
- New EU anti-dumping duties on Chinese tires, ranging from 4.3% to 45.3%, took effect July 18.
The decline comes as China's tire makers adjust to a newly changed European market, where a long-running trade dispute has just produced a tariff bill.
The European Commission finalized new anti-dumping duties on Chinese passenger-car and light-truck tires in early July, ranging from 4.3% to 45.3%. The tariffs took effect July 18. The order runs for an initial five-year period without retroactive application, per a report European Rubber Journal cited from Astutus Research.
Weakening Tire Demand Pressures Rubber Prices
SunSirs described the export decline as a signal of softening tire demand, the kind that filters upstream into the raw materials tires themselves are made from.
Natural rubber and cis-polybutadiene rubber are the most exposed. Both are core inputs for tire production, and both are expected to see moderate downward pressure on spot prices as a result.
Styrene-butadiene rubber is also used in tires, but its link to tire demand is looser than natural rubber's or cis-polybutadiene rubber's.
The expected effect there is smaller. Nitrile rubber is used mainly in oil-resistant products, not tires. It isn't expected to move on this data.
New EU Duties Take Effect Mid-July
The duties are the end result of a two-part EU case covering both anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints against Chinese passenger-car and light-truck tires, per European Rubber Journal.
Buyers moved before the duties landed. China's share of EU27-plus-UK tire imports fell to 58.1% in the January-to-May period, down from 71.8% a year earlier.
Some orders shifted to Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia as buyers moved ahead of the duties.
A number of those Southeast Asian shipments came from factories Chinese manufacturers already own, according to the Astutus Research report cited by European Rubber Journal.
Rubber Futures Rise Despite Weak Export Data
Rubber futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange didn't follow the trade data lower.
The benchmark natural rubber contract (2701) closed at 18,030 RMB per ton on August 17, up 230 RMB on the day. Open interest rose by 9,529 lots. Butadiene rubber's benchmark contract (2610) closed at 14,120 RMB per ton on August 17, up 460 RMB on the day. Open interest there rose by 13,418 lots.
Per SunSirs, the short-term trend in both contracts remains strong even as demand-side pressure from July's weaker tire-export data becomes more apparent in the broader rubber market.
