Recently, the Japan Carbon Black Association released a forecast for domestic carbon black demand in Japan in 2023. This year, the total demand for carbon black in Japan (including imports and exports) will reach 727000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%.
The association said that this forecast has taken into account the easing of the COVID-19 epidemic, the recovery of consumers’ willingness to buy, the increase of enterprises’ willingness to invest in equipment, the increase of exports and other factors that have led to the gradual recovery of the economy. However, the Japan Carbon Black Association said that there are still some unpredictable factors in the market, such as the trend of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the development of the epidemic and the soaring prices of raw materials.
It is reported that the association’s forecast for carbon black demand is based on the expectation that Japan’s domestic automobile production will reach 8.57 million units this year, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%. The Japan Automobile Tire Association predicts that domestic tire demand in Japan will increase by 2.5% year-on-year. In addition, the Japan Rubber Industry Association predicts that the consumption of new rubber in the entire rubber industry is expected to be 1.299 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. Among them, automobile tires and rubber hoses are expected to reach 1.041 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%; Ordinary rubber is expected to reach 258000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%.
The association predicts that in Japan’s total demand for carbon black this year, rubber is expected to be 641750 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%, including 4788400 tons for tires, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%; 1469100 tons of ordinary rubber were used, a year-on-year increase of 6.8%. In addition, 44500 tons of non rubber carbon black were used, a year-on-year increase of 0.6%. The total domestic demand is 670250000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. The export is expected to reach 57000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%. Among them, 16000 tons of rubber were used, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%. On the other hand, imports are expected to be 138500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%. Among them, 125000 tons of rubber were used, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%; 13500 tons were used for non rubber purposes, a year-on-year increase of 1%.