The rubber machinery industry in the first half of 2022 continued the structural "bull market" from 2020 to 2021, but the industry's growth in the second half of 2022 was weak. Industry insiders pointed out that, on the whole, although the export momentum of the rubber machinery industry is good in 2022, the industry growth rate has hit the lowest level in recent years, and the industry profit indicators are not ideal. On the whole, it is expected that most rubber machinery companies will be affected by insufficient orders in 2023, and there will be a gap in production. The overall situation of the industry is not optimistic.
Sales revenue may decline in the first half of the year
"Last year, the operating rate of my country's rubber machinery enterprises remained at a relatively high level overall, but the gap in orders in the second half of the year was obvious, resulting in insufficient operating rates." said the person in charge of the Rubber Machinery Professional Committee of China Chemical Equipment Association.
The total sales revenue of the machinery industry in 2022 will reach 13.75 billion yuan, an increase of 1.1%. Enterprises with higher sales revenue include MESNAC (7.240, 0.26, 3.72%), Sachi Group, Dalian Rubber and Plastic Machinery, Sinochem Guilin Engineering, Tianjin Saixiang Technology (5.410, 0.14, 2.66%), Yiyang Rubber Machinery, Guilin Rubber Machinery, Dalian No.2 Rubber & Plastic Machinery, Fujian Tianhua Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. and Qingdao Hailang Special Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. Among the 21 companies, 15 companies' sales revenue declined, and only 6 companies achieved growth.
It is worth noting that the sales orders in the industry continue to be tilted towards leading companies, and the strong get stronger, which further increases the concentration of the industry.
In the second half of 2022, the bidding projects for tire equipment will decrease, and the orders received by the rubber machinery industry will also decrease significantly. At the same time, due to the unsatisfactory tire sales situation, several leading tire companies have adjusted or slowed down tire investment, resulting in some rubber machinery orders signed in the first half of 2022 being unable to be executed or delayed delivery, and industry inventory is at a relatively high level in recent years. However, in the second half of 2022, a small wave of investment in my country's OTR tires has greatly alleviated the contradiction of insufficient orders for rubber machinery, and some companies that mainly focus on OTR equipment have a relatively easy life.
In 2023, in addition to the bidding for engineering tire equipment in the tire industry, there will only be a small amount of all-steel and semi-steel tire equipment to fill up the demand. It is expected that the shortage of orders from rubber machinery companies will be the mainstream trend, and the decline in sales revenue in the first half of the year is a high probability event.
Industry profitability is low
According to the statistics of the units participating in the report, most of the enterprises whose profits have decreased compared with the previous year, and 3 loss-making enterprises. In 2022, the overall gross profit level of the industry's products is still low, and the profitability is not strong. The main reason is that the market demand is relatively small and the competition is fierce, which leads to low order prices. However, the prices of raw materials such as steel are still running at a high level, resulting in a substantial increase in costs, and the gross profit margin of products is at a low level in recent years.
The data also showed that the output value of new products of declared enterprises decreased by 6.8% compared with the same period of the previous year. The number of employees in the industry continued to decline by 1%, labor productivity remained basically unchanged, and the asset-liability ratio increased slightly.
Analysts in the industry believe that the rubber machinery industry is currently short of orders, the operating rate is not ideal, the price level of raw materials such as steel is still high, the industry is under great pressure on profitability, and the probability of a decline in industry profit indicators in 2023 is relatively high.
Export earnings continue to grow
At present, the biggest bright spot of my country's rubber machinery industry is the substantial growth in export earnings for three consecutive years.
The statistics of participating reporting units show that the export delivery value is 3.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.1%. Based on this, it is estimated that the total export earnings of my country's rubber machinery industry in 2022 will be 650 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16%. Companies with high export delivery value include MESNAC, Dalian Rubber & Plastic Machinery, Tianjin Saixiang Technology, Sachi Group, Huaao Equipment, Yiyang Rubber Machinery, Sinochem Guilin Engineering, Guilin Rubber Machinery and Qingdao Delphy technology development co., Ltd.
"The total export delivery value of rubber machinery participating in the reporting unit accounted for 30.3% of the total sales, an increase of 4 percentage points over the previous year." The person in charge of the special committee said that the main reason for the increase in exports is that in recent years my country's tire industry has grown overseas. Especially in Southeast Asia, there are many new and expanded tire projects, and the demand for rubber machinery is relatively strong. my country's rubber machinery companies have undertaken a large number of overseas tire investment orders. Especially after the optimization and adjustment of the epidemic policy, the investment of world tire giants such as Michelin has returned to the pre-epidemic level, and the international demand for rubber machinery has increased. In addition, the continuous depreciation of my country's RMB against the US dollar is also conducive to the export of rubber machinery.
Industry insiders believe that in 2023, most of my country's tire overseas investment projects will continue to advance, and the investment projects of world tire giants will also increase. The exchange rate of RMB against the US dollar will depreciate to around 7, which will benefit the export of rubber machinery. It is expected that the growth of export earnings in 2023 is a high probability event, but the growth rate will not be too large.
