Manufacturers of rubber products, including tyres, hoses and seals, are also feeling the effects of the Ukraine conflict on a massive scale, the German Rubber Industry Association (WDK) announced in Frankfurt on Tuesday. Automotive suppliers were particularly affected, it said.

“Carbon black is an indispensable material for our production and so far more than a third of it comes from Russia,” said WDK chief executive Boris Engelhardt. “Russian supplies are failing and European capacities are not sufficient to cover the demand.”

The purchase of carbon black and other raw materials outside Europe is currently problematic because of the short-term nature of the market, but also because of factors such as the loss of transport capacities.

Carbon black is used as a filler, for example in tyre production.

According to the association, rubber companies can no longer pass on the rapidly rising production costs to their customers.

In Italy and France, the first companies in the industry have already stopped production. In Germany, too, it is only a question of time.