The rubber material industry has made major breakthroughs in the past few years, especially under the support of national policies, the technical level and industrialization of the rubber material industry have been significantly improved. However, due to the impact of market competition, especially the impact of weak downstream demand, the industry is also facing a new stage of slowing growth.
As of 2023, the market size of China's rubber material industry has reached about 300 billion yuan, of which synthetic rubber occupies a larger market share. Despite the growth in market size, the market size has decreased slightly due to the decline in product prices. The supply scale of the rubber industry has experienced a stage of rapid growth in the past few years, but since 2012, the growth rate of the industry has gradually slowed down and entered a new stage of normal development. Faced with the uncertainty of economic development at home and abroad and the pressure of market competition, rubber enterprises need to actively think about how to change the development mode, adjust the structure and promote reform. Affected by the sluggish demand in the downstream market, the apparent consumption of rubber in China in 2023 was 23.2593 million tons. In spite of this, the demand for rubber in the tire and automotive industries is still strong, especially the growth of export markets provides strong support for rubber consumption. In addition to the tire market, the production of other products such as rubber belts and rubber hoses is also growing, and the demand for rubber materials is also increasing. For example, the output of China's rubber hose increased from 1.00 billion standard meters in 2014 to 1.950 billion standard meters in 2023.
China's synthetic rubber industry market is mainly composed of state-owned enterprises such as Sinopec and petrochina, as well as some private enterprises and foreign enterprises. These enterprises in the field of synthetic rubber production capacity and output accounted for more than 50.0%. With the process of industrial capacity reduction and optimization of industrial structure, certain capital and technical barriers have been formed in the industry. With the progress of science and technology and the need for industrial upgrading, innovation-driven rubber industry will become the key to the future development of the industry. The application of new materials and new technologies will promote the development of the industry in the direction of higher quality and higher efficiency. The increasingly stringent environmental regulations require that the rubber industry must strengthen the development of green manufacturing and circular economy. The development of environmentally friendly products and production processes will be an important means for enterprises to win market competition. In the context of globalization, international cooperation will become an important way to enhance the competitiveness of the rubber industry. Through international technical exchanges and cooperation, we can accelerate the technological progress and industrial upgrading of China's rubber industry.
In summary, although the rubber material industry is currently facing some challenges, with the deepening of development concepts such as innovation-driven and green environmental protection, as well as the strengthening of international cooperation, the industry still has greater development potential in the future.
