Commercial truck tire shipments saw double-digit growth in 2014 over 2013, industry sources say. Demand was matched to the supply, and a drop in average truck tire and retread prices followed lower raw material costs.

Compared with 2013, truck tire shipments were up 1.6 million units while the number of retreaded tires was up 800,000 units. Combined, replacement tires and retreads made up $10.3 billion in business.

There were 17.3 million new heavy- and medium-duty truck tires shipped in 2014 with an average cost of $381.50 for a total value of $6.6 billion. There were 15.7 million retreads produced at an average cost of $237.48 each, with a  market value of $3.7 billion.

The price gap between new tires and retreads was $144.02, a decrease from about $150 in 2013. In the OE sector, truck tire shipments were up 16%.

For more information on the North American tire marketplace, click here.