China becomes Korea's largest tire importer

Korea's tire market appears to have entered a saturation phase. The sales of import tires, however, are enjoying rapid growth. Backed by the rising popularity of import cars over the past several years, import tires are making forays into domestic original equipment tire market. 

According to industry sources on August 14, the nation's tire imports amounted to US$511.48 million in 2015, up 63.8 percent from $312.27 million in 2010. Even in the first half of this year, the nation's tire imports rose 6.2 percent year on year to $250.84 million.

By country, China accounted for 33.6 percent in Korea's tire imports in 2015, ranking No. 1. Following China were Germany with 9.5 percent, Japan with 9.0 percent, the United States with 8.3 percent, Thailand with 8.1 percent, France with 4.8 percent, and Italy with 1.4 percent. 

Over the past several years, China kept the No. 1 spot in Korea's import tire market with a share of about 30 percent. Chinese tires, whose quality is not satisfactory enough to be used for passenger vehicles, are imported mainly for large trucks and buses. 

The share of Japanese-made tires which enjoyed the highest popularity until the early 2000s, has steadily declined, while the shares of the U.S. and Germany have achieved better performance in recent years.