Russian tire-related output falls 10.3% to 19.7 million units in first half of 2026
Russian factories produced 19.7 million tires, casings and rubber inner tubes in the first half of 2026, down 10.3% year on year, according to Rosstat data. Output was approximately 21% below the level recorded two years earlier as Chinese suppliers expanded their share of imports.
Production drops below 20 million units
Russian factories produced 19.7 million tires, casings and rubber inner tubes during the first six months of 2026, according to Rosstat data reported by Rambler Auto. The result was 10.3% below the corresponding period of 2025, when production totaled approximately 22 million units.
The figures point to continued weakness in Russia’s tire industry rather than a short-term interruption. Compared with the first half of 2024, output was down by approximately 21%. Over the past four years, production of tires, casings and rubber inner tubes has contracted by 36%.
The statistical category is broader than automotive tires alone. Rosstat combines tires with casings and rubber inner tubes, making it impossible to isolate the production trend for passenger-car tires from these figures. The data nevertheless provide a measure of activity across the wider domestic tire and related rubber-products segment.
Output remains below earlier levels
Production in the first half of 2026 was also well below the approximately 30 million units made in 2022. That year provides a significant comparison because several foreign manufacturers had already withdrawn from the Russian market, changing the ownership and supplier structure of the domestic industry.
The fall from approximately 22 million units in the first half of 2025 to 19.7 million a year later represents a reduction of more than 2 million units within Rosstat’s combined category. For Russian plants, lower volumes can weaken capacity utilization and spread fixed costs across fewer products. The effects may extend to suppliers of rubber compounds, technical textiles, carbon black and other manufacturing inputs, although the available data do not quantify their performance.
The figures do not identify individual manufacturers, plant utilization rates or the division between replacement tires and supplies to vehicle assembly plants. They also provide no breakdown by passenger car, truck, bus or specialty tire. This limits conclusions about which end-use markets account for the contraction.
Chinese suppliers increase import share
Rambler Auto links much of the industry’s decline in recent years to the expansion of Chinese manufacturers in the Russian market. Their share of tire imports rose from 38% to 70%. The figures show that Chinese suppliers have become the dominant source of imported tires, intensifying competition for domestic producers in the replacement market and other sales channels.
The combination of falling domestic production and a higher Chinese share of imports is likely to sharpen debate over market protection. Proposals have emerged in Russia for restrictive tariffs on Chinese tires, although the source material provides no proposed tariff rate, implementation date or final regulatory decision. Any measure would affect domestic factories, Chinese exporters, Russian distributors and buyers differently: protection could support local production, while import restrictions could reduce sourcing options for traders and consumers.
For manufacturers and investors, the next indicators to watch are whether output stabilizes after the first-half decline and whether trade policy changes the competitive balance. Importers and distributors will also need to assess their exposure to Chinese supply, which now represents 70% of tire imports. Rosstat’s broader product category means that more detailed production and trade data will be required to determine whether passenger-car tires are following the same trajectory as the overall market.
