SIBUR: Russian tire manufacturers are unable to cope with Chinese competition

The import substitution of synthetic rubber in the Russian tire industry is proceeding successfully, with only 2-3% of supplies coming from abroad, and "further growth in consumption is limited," said Pavel Lyakhovich, a member of the board of directors and executive director of SIBUR, in an interview with TASS.

"Tire production in 2025 decreased by more than a third compared to 2024. Many enterprises simply stopped, stood still for weeks, and some had a lower load," the SIBUR representative stated.

Lyakhovich added that the situation this year will be "approximately the same". "We see that the first quarter of this year for tire production is worse than the first quarter of 2025," he said. "Our tire manufacturers cannot withstand competition from Chinese manufacturers. If in the premium, expensive tire segment they can still hold on, then in the cheap tire segment they cannot. They are seriously losing the competition due to the fact that they have old, imperfect equipment."

According to him, the main market for rubber is the Russian market, and in the absence of demand, products are exported. "Rubbers are the only group of products in our portfolio that are mostly exported. Out of our production of 800,000 tons of rubber in Russia in 2025, we sold less than 200,000 tons. Not because we want to export more, but because Russia no longer consumes it," he said.

Earlier, SIBUR also stated that it would be able to replace natural rubber in tires with synthetic rubber - a task that no one in the industry can currently handle - and Lyakhovich noted that "this plan is being implemented".

"It allows the country to be independent of supplies of this important product," he said. "Now, to obtain the necessary properties of tires, a combination of different rubbers is used. We have several dozen recipes for tires of different sizes, which allow us to largely replace natural rubber. Using these recipes, Russia can reduce its consumption by 70-75%."

At the same time, Lyakhovich said that new recipes must undergo a fairly lengthy homologation process in the tire industry. "Tests, runs at different temperatures, in different conditions are needed," he explained. "We have roadmaps or clear steps for replacing natural rubber with synthetic rubber with almost all companies. There are certain successes, but the current pace of replacement is still insufficient. Nevertheless, I am confident that we will achieve the set goal."

According to the SIBUR manager, Russian developments are of interest to Chinese companies. "It's interesting that Chinese manufacturers are buying our recipes and using them," he noted. "They see very good prospects for replacing natural rubber with synthetic rubber, although they don't have such threats as a ban on natural rubber supplies."