橡胶板块2025年08月第3周报-20250818

Report Title - Rubber Sector Weekly Report for the 3rd Week of August 2025 [1] Report Author - Panshengjie, Head of the Chemical Research Team at the Commodity Research Institute, with investment consulting license number Z0014607 [2] Report Industry Investment Rating - Not provided Core Viewpoints - The fundamentals of natural rubber have improved month-on-month, but the year-on-year weak trend remains unchanged [5] - By the end of 2025, the mixed basis is expected to reach -1700 yuan/ton [4][8] - The year-end valuation of the unilateral price is expected to decline by -30% year-on-year [4][17] Summary by Related Catalogs Supply Side (Inventory and Imports) - In August, the inventory in Qingdao Free Trade Zone decreased for 3 - 4 consecutive weeks on a month-on-month basis, and the year-on-year inventory accumulation rate also narrowed. However, from the perspective of the 24-week average inventory change, both inside and outside the zone are still in the inventory accumulation stage. For example, the off-zone inventory was the same as the previous year in early April but had accumulated an additional 15.1 tons by August [4][8] - In July, the total inventory of NR warehouse receipts, in-zone inventory, and off-zone inventory in Qingdao Free Trade Zone was 67.56 tons, with an average inventory decrease of -8.0% year-on-year in the past six months and continuous inventory accumulation for eight months [15] - In June, the total import volume of standard rubber and mixed rubber from Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia was 35.45 tons, with an average year-on-year increase of 13.9% in the past six months and continuous marginal increase for 11 months [10] Supply Side (Raw Material Prices) - The upstream rainfall is relatively high, but the impact on price spreads is not significant due to low domestic production. In Thailand, the weighted rainfall for production has not increased significantly, especially in July and August, which decreased compared to the previous year [4][17] - The current marginal decrease in rainfall has a negative impact on the unilateral price, but the impact is not significant. It is more likely that the heavy rainfall in the first three quarters of 2024 will result in normal production in the second half of 2025, with a year-on-year decline of -30% in valuation [4][17] - The premium of Thai smoked sheet rubber over 20 rubber is +415 dollars/ton, with an average year-on-year decrease of -8.3% in the past three months, showing a marginal decline and being negative for the unilateral price of RU [24] - The premium of Thai glue over cup lump is +5.55 Thai baht/kg, with an average year-on-year decrease of -7.06 Thai baht/kg in the past nine months and continuous marginal weakening for ten months [24] Demand Side (Tire Consumption) - As of the end of last week, the production line operating rate of all-steel tires increased to 63.1%, with an average year-on-year increase of 10.7% in the past 12 weeks and continuous marginal increase for two weeks. The finished product inventory of all-steel tires has increased for two consecutive weeks to 40 days, with an average year-on-year decrease of -3.5% in the 24-week inventory and continuous marginal increase for three weeks [57] - The production line operating rate of semi-steel tires has decreased for four consecutive weeks to 72.1%, with an average year-on-year decrease of -3.8% in the past 24 weeks and continuous marginal decrease for four weeks. The product inventory of semi-steel tires has increased for two consecutive weeks to 47 days, with an average year-on-year increase of 36.0% in the 24-week inventory and continuous marginal decrease for 12 weeks [57] Demand Side (Automobile Industry) - As of July 2025, the domestic automobile inventory warning index has increased for two consecutive months to 57.2 points, with an average year-on-year decrease of -6.8% in the past 12 months and continuous expansion of the decline for four months, which is positive for the unilateral price of RU [66] - The European automobile industry index has rebounded for three consecutive months to -23.2 points [66] Spread Analysis - As of August, the discount of Indian standard rubber to Thai standard rubber has narrowed from -250 dollars/ton in April to -100 dollars/ton. The increasing trend of Indian standard rubber imports since February has not ended, which is negative for NR month spreads, NR - RU spreads, and the mixed basis [30] - Since mid-July, the RU September - January spread has started an anti-arbitrage logic, providing sufficient motivation to take delivery of old rubber. However, from the two factors determining the month spread, the current fundamentals still support the positive arbitrage logic of the near-month strengthening [37] - In August, the domestic annualized capital interest rate was 1.47%, with six consecutive months of interest rate cuts, which determines the narrowing of the September - January spread [37] - In August, the RU warehouse receipts decreased for four consecutive months to 17.77 tons, a year-on-year decrease of -25.5%, reaching a new low since September 2023. At the same time, the RU warehouse receipts have decreased marginally for seven consecutive months, which is positive for the near end [37] Synthetic Rubber Supply - As of last Friday, the domestic butadiene capacity utilization rate increased to 69.7%, with an average year-on-year increase of 0.8% in the past five weeks and continuous marginal increase for two weeks [50] - The domestic high-cis butadiene rubber capacity utilization rate decreased to 64.5%, with an average year-on-year increase of 12.1% in the past five weeks and continuous marginal increase for four weeks [50] - The domestic butadiene port inventory increased to 2.04 tons, with an average year-on-year decrease of -0.35 tons in the past five weeks and continuous marginal decrease for seven weeks [50] - The total inventory of domestic butadiene rubber traders and factories was 3.04 tons, with an average year-on-year increase of 0.68 tons in the five-week inventory and continuous marginal decrease for seven weeks [50]