Global Ribbed Smoked Sheet Market Driven by Demand from China and India

Consumption within the global ribbed smoked sheet market has been forecast to reach 5.6 million metric tons by 2018, primarily driven by a rapid increase in demand from emerging markets such as China and India.

The global ribbed smoked sheet market's recovery was initiated in the middle of 2009 and was strongly supported by an increase in Government spending as well as inventory rebuilding worldwide through various support measures aimed at increasing automobile sales.

Consequently, demand for tires increased in tandem, leading to an increase in consumption of ribbed smoked sheet. Moreover, the pent up demand for replacement tires, which were postponed or delayed during the recession also resulted in increase in demand for tires.

Though demand in North America, Japan, and Europe is expected to be relatively subdued over the next few years, emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to drive growth in future. In the coming years, China and India are expected to dominate the market in terms of ribbed smoked sheet consumption.

Asia-Pacific accounts for a lion's share of the global ribbed smoked sheet market and is expected to remain the strongest growth area globally up to 2018, with China currently representing the largest consumer of ribbed smoked sheet in the world. China is highly dependent on imports to meet the demand for natural rubber, with about 70% of demand being met through imports.

Key players within the global ribbed smoked sheet market include; GMG Global Ltd., Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, SouthLand Rubber Co., Ltd., Thai Hua Rubber Plc, Tong Thai Rubber, Von Bundit Co., Ltd., and Watap Thailand Co., Ltd.