Analysis of China’s Foreign Trade of Rubber Products

By Xu Wenying, China Rubber Industry Association

Exports

The export of rubber products (HS Code 40) from China continued to grow in 2013. The volume was 6.7 million tons, up 10.4% year-on-year. The value was US$23.1 billion (RMB143.2 billion), up 4.4% year-on-year, but with a big decrease in prices. The volume of rubber products for hygienic and pharmaceutical articles (HS Code 4014) grew fastest, increasing 46% year-on-year to 15 kt. Second fastest was compounded rubber products (HS Code 4005), increasing 31% year-on-year to 23 kt. The volume of new pneumatic tires (HS Code 4011) increased 13.3% year-on-year to almost 5 million tons. Products with the steepest drop in export volume were retreaded or used pneumatic tires (HS Code 4012), decreasing 9.1% to 67 kt.


Table 1   Statistics of rubber products exported from China in 2013

Customs HS Code    Product    Export volume (kt)    YoY increase (%)    Export value (million US$)    YoY increase (%)    Average price (US$/t)
40    Rubber and articles thereof    6 700    10.4    23100    4.4    3 448
4001    Natural rubber     13    1.8    35    -23.8    2 692
4002    Synthetic rubber    213    -3.8    557     -22.7    2 615
4003    Reclaimed rubber    84    -3.4    92    1    1 095
4004    Waste, parings and scrap of rubber  & powders & granules obtained there-from    8.8    4.9    4    -48.1    500
4005    Compounded rubber    23    31.4    69    34.9    3 000
4006    Other forms of unvulcanized rubber and articles thereof    1.5    6.6    9    6.2    5 913
4007    Vulcanized rubber thread and cord    27    27.2    104    45.7    3 852
4008    Plates, sheets, strip, rods and profile shapes, of vulcanized rubber    154    2.4    285    9.5    1 851
4009    Tubes, pipes and hoses    165    7.6    800    10    4 848
4010    Conveyor or transmission belts    247    3.6    818    0.2    3 312
4011    New pneumatic tires    4 993    13.3    16 150    1.7    3 235
4012    Retreaded or used pneumatic tires; solid or cushion tires, tire treads and tire flaps    67    -9.1    227    1.2    3 388
4013    Inner tubes    191    -4.3    630    -4.8    3 298
4014    Hygienic or pharmaceutical articles (sheath contraceptives, etc.)    15    46.0    134    32.1    8 933
4015    Articles of apparel and clothing accessories of vulcanized rubber    83    6.4    540    2.2    6 506
4016    Other articles of vulcanized rubber (cellular vulcanized rubber, floor mats, gaskets, boat/ dock fenders, etc.)    403    6.0    2626    37.7    6 516
4017    Hard rubber in all forms; articles of hard rubber    11.7    6.5    41    9.1    3 526


New pneumatic tires were still the dominant variety among the exported rubber products: they accounted for 75% of the volume and 70% of the value. Second was “other vulcanized rubber articles” (HS Code 4016), accounting for 6% of the total export volume. Third was conveyor belts and transmission belts (HS Code 4010), accounting for 3.7% of the volume. These three varieties together accounted for 86% of China’s total export volume of rubber, indicating that China’s export of rubber products is dominated by finished goods.
Hygienic and pharmaceutical articles (HS Code 4014) have the highest average price per ton of all exported rubber products, about RMB55 000/t. While the average export price of tires was only around RMB20 000/t. For “other vulcanized rubber articles” (HS Code 4016), the average export price was about RMB40 000/t; for compounded rubber (HS Code 4005), RMB18 000/t; for reclaimed rubber (HS Code 4003), RMB6 700/t.

Table 2   Rubber products imported to China in 2013

Customs HS Code    Product    Import volume (kt)    YoY increase (%)    Import value (million US$)    YoY increase (%)    Average price (US$/t)
40    Rubber and articles thereof    5 935    11.9    19 900    -3.7    3 353
4001    Natural rubber     2 472    13.6    6 390    -6.2    2 585
4002    Synthetic rubber    1 527    6.2    4 430    -13.0    2 901
4003    Reclaimed rubber    36    48.4    35    27.1    972
4004    Waste, parings and scrap of rubber  & powders & granules obtained there from    0    0    0    0    0
4005    Compounded rubber    1 541    15.7    4 286    -3.7    2 781
4006    Other forms of unvulcanized rubber and articles thereof    1.3    45.1    19    -18.8    14 179
4007    Vulcanized rubber thread and cord    54    -0.8    184    -8.9    3 407
4008    Plates, sheets, strip, rods and profile shapes, of vulcanized rubber    24    -6.8    228    -2.8    9 500
4009    Tubes, pipes and hoses    38    10.4    640    10.6    16 842
4010    Conveyor or transmission belts     19    2.2    318    3.9    16 737
4011    New pneumatic tires    118    10.8    980    18.6    8 305
4012    Retreaded or used pneumatic tires; solid or cushion tires, tire treads and tire flaps    9    4.5    34    6.4    3 778
4013    Inner tubes    0.3    -2.6    3    17.9    8 136
4014    Hygienic or pharmaceutical articles (sheath contraceptives, etc)    3.7    16    144    144.1    38 919
4015    Articles of apparel and clothing accessories of vulcanized rubber    18.    25.2    116    10.6    6 444
4016    Other articles of vulcanized rubber (cellular vulcanized rubber, floor mats, gaskets, boat/ dock fenders, etc.)    71.7    9.6    2 066    9.7    28 815
4017    Hard rubber in all forms; articles of hard rubber    0.5    15.7    10    0.9    19 714


Imports

In 2013, 5 935 kt of rubber products was imported to China, up 11.9% year-on-year. However, due to a decline in the prices of natural rubber, synthetic rubber and compounded rubber, the import value decreased 3.7% year-on-year to US$19.9 billion. The import volumes of natural rubber, synthetic rubber and compounded rubber were 2 470 kt, 1 540 kt and 1 520 kt, respectively. The above three products accounted for 93% of the total volume of rubber products imported to China.
The most expensive imported variety of rubber products is hygienic and pharmaceutical articles (HS Code 4014), being as high as RMB240 000/t. Second was “other vulcanized rubber articles” (HS Code 4016), averaging about RMB180 000/t.
By comparing Table 1 and Table 2, we can see that the export price for natural rubber was higher than its import price; the export price for synthetic rubber was lower than its import price. For some products – including hard rubber (HS Code 4017), vulcanized rubber products (HS Code 4008), conveyor or transmission belts (HS Code 4010) and hygienic or pharmaceutical articles (HS Code 4014) – the import price was at least four times the export price.

Analysis of the import of key products

As can be seen from Table 3, the import price of hard rubber products (HS Code 4017) from Japan and Germany was as high as US$27/kg, and the import volume from Japan, South Korea and Germany accounted for 52% of the total import volume of hard rubber products. Shanghai Yongqiwu Filling Products Co., Ltd., a Japan-exclusively-funded company, is the major importer to buy hard rubber products from Japan. Products from Germany were mainly imported by Bosch Automotive Parts (Changsha) Co., Ltd. These imported hard rubber products are mainly used in fillers or automobile parts.

Table 3   Imports of hard rubber products (HS Code 4017)

Import source    Import volume (kg)    Import value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)
Japan    95 643    2 569 165    26.86
South Korea    114 727    1 996 214    17.40
Germany    46 008    1 324 130    28.78
Total    488 961    9 641 251    19.72
Proportion of top 3 sources    52%    61%    


Table 4   Imports of sheath contraceptives (HS Code 401410)

Import source    Import volume (kg)    Import value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)
Malaysia    1 966 189    86 267 216    43.88
Thailand    1 214 874    25 247 694    20.78
Japan    184 120    19 978 276    108.51
Total    3 402 025    133 297 009    39.18
Proportion of top 3 sources    99%    99%    

Table 5   Imports of other articles of vulcanized rubber (HS Code 4016)

Product (HS Code)    Import volume (kg)    Import value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)
Total (4016)    71 705 980    2 066 610 181    28.82
Cellular vulcanized rubber (401610)    1 855 060    50 224 145    27.07
Floor coverings & mats of vulcanized rubber (401691)    2 510 806    14 472 481    5.76
Erasers (401692)    372 790    3 213 398    8.62
Gaskets, washers and other seals (401693)    26 117 853    1 222 159 948    46.79
Boat or dock fenders (401694)    954 891    4 494 078    4.71
Other inflatable articles (401695)    599 332    20 372 271    33.99
Other articles of vulcanized rubber (401699)    39 295 248    751 673 860    19.13
Proportion of gaskets and washers in HS Code 4016 products    36%    59%     


Table 6   Imports of tubes, pipes and hoses of vulcanized rubber (HS Code 4009)

Import source    Import volume (kg)    Import value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)
Germany    5 668 091    156613731    27.63
Japan    5 364 599    116727219    21.76
South Korea    5 770 968    78 978 570    13.69
United States    3 667 137    70 829 627    19.31
France    1 020 074    26 498 785    25.98
Sum of top 5 sources    21 490 869    449 647 932    
Proportion of top 5 sources    57%    70%    


Table 7   Imports of transmission belts (HS Code 4010)

Product    Import volume (kg)    Import value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)
Conveyor belts reinforced only with metal (401011)    5 603 615    9 169 363    1.64
Conveyor belts reinforced only with textile materials (401012)    5 901 753    16 836 385    2.85
Other transmission belts  (401039)    277 343    12 630 177    45.54


Table 8   Import sources of other transmission belts (HS Code 401039)

Import source    Import volume (kg)    Import value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)
Japan    32 569    2 970 964    91.22
Britain    16 649    1 720 619    103.35
Germany    35 346    1 672 984    47.33
United States    35 460    1 281 349    36.14
Italy    25 129    1 223 562    48.69



About 99% of the sheath contraceptives imported to China were from Malaysia, Thailand and Japan. Products from Japan had the highest price, US$108/kg. The average import price of products from Malaysia was as high as US$43.88/kg.
As shown in Figure 5, gaskets and washers (HS Code 401693) accounted for 36% of the total import volume and 59% of the total import value of “other vulcanized rubber articles” (HS Code 4016), indicating that gaskets and washers have relatively high added values. The average price of gaskets and washers from Japan and the United States was as high as US$73/kg. The company that imports gaskets and washers from the United States is Taipeng Juneng Compounds (Taicang) Co., Ltd., a leading developer and manufacturer of large composite structural parts that are used in wind power, civil motor vehicles and military vehicles. A major company that imports such products from Japan is Zhuhai Fujikura Co., Ltd.
For tubes, pipes and hoses of vulcanized rubber (HS Code 4009), products from Germany are most expensive with an average price of US$27/kg, followed by those from France. Major importers include Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd., FAW-Volkswagen Co., Ltd. and BMW-Brilliance Co., Ltd., indicating the imported products were mainly used in automobiles.
As can be seen from Table 7, although the import volume of “other transmission belts” (HS Code 401039) was not high, but the average import price was as high as US$45/kg. The average price of products imported from Britain even exceeded US$100/kg. See Table 8 for details. Companies that import “other transmission belts” from Japan are Bando (Shanghai) International Trading Co., Ltd. and Bando (Shanghai) Industrial Belt Co., Ltd.

Exports of tires

The United States was still be the largest importer of China’s tires last year, followed by Britain and Russia. The volume exported to the United States increased 24% year-on-year and accounted for 23% of the volume of exported tires. However, the average export price was lower than in 2012. Tires exported to Germany have the highest price, US$3.84/kg.
Meanwhile, the export volumes to major European countries, including Britain, Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain, all grew somewhat in 2013, indicating a revitalization of Europe’s tire market. The combined volume exported to these six European countries accounted for 14% of the volume of export tires.        


Table 9   Major export destinations of new pneumatic tires from China


Country    Export volume (kg)    Export value (US$)    Average price (US$/kg)    YoY increase of export volume (%)    YoY increase of export value (%)
United States    1 154 208 239    3 781 376 594    3.28    24.0    13.2
Britain    196 534 432    667 469 491    3.40    20.6    7.9
Russia    193 674 349    597 426 221    3.08    18.2    4.3
Australia    161 902 070    590 114 724    3.64    -4.7    -15.9
United Arab Emirates    187 022 697    546 389 184    2.92    -14.8    -25.1
Saudi Arabia    188 883 618    542 417 953    2.87    4.9    -7.8
Mexico    156 474 746    504 013 781    3.22    12.1    0.4
Canada    122 473 541    435 719 669    3.56    2.5    -7.7
Nigeria    133 668 698    386 371 342    2.89    38.9    23.2
Brazil    110 050 374    352 706 180    3.20    16.9    11.1
Germany    86 979 702    333 795 033    3.84    10.6    2.4
Netherlands    77 679 883    271 775 382    3.50    7    -3.4
Italy    72 917 245    269 822 279    3.70    26.4    18
Spain    57 059 647    207 193 827    3.63    40.2    30.8