In early December 2010, most budget tyre manufacturers announced an increase for the first 6 months of 2011 on all budget tyre prices, some going up as much as 35%.

The reason for this price increase is not just increased fuel prices and transport costs, but the shortage of rubber crop.

Back in 2008 when the recession was just starting to bite, many crop farmers decided to replace the rubber plants with other crops, such as soya beans. This meant that come the next harvest, there was less pure rubber to be harvested and naturally the price went soaring up. This meant the manufacturers were paying more for their raw materials, and most of it went to the big tyre companies (ie Michelin, Pirelli, Dunlop etc) and what was left went to the medium brands (such as Falken and Kumho).

The budget brands were then forced to buy rubber from other tyre companies and greatly inflated prices, and as there original stock dwindled, the more expensive rubber was now being used to produce tyres. The fact that it also takes 4-5 months to ship tyres over from China and Asia means that these massive price increases are only now going to be felt.

Therefore, when choosing replacement tyres for your vehicle, it makes sense to go with the medium or premium brands as they have much better resources and, although their prices may also increase, bigger buying power.

So in summary, buying budget doesn’t necessarily mean paying the cheapest price.