INDIANAPOLIS—"Steady with a chance of slowing." That's the forecast for 2020 for rubber product manufacturers, as determined by the State of the Rubber Industry Study, an annual report compiled by the Association of Rubber Products Manufacturers.
Overall what we're seeing for (rubber product manufacturers) is that they anticipate the auto industry being extremely slow in the coming year.
The budget here is the largest we've seen.
It's not unfair to say that auto is hurting the rubber industry overall.
We anticipate these trends to continue.
Customers are trying to move back onshore, but are price-shocked regardless of material compliance.
A lot of people anticipate there will be market uncertainty in Europe, and there is the trade war with China having a huge effect.
It was (a true prediction), we noticed.