Ceresana analyzes in its new study the global market for rubbers: Styrene butadiene rubber (E-SBR and S-SBR), polybutadiene rubber (BR), ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM), butyl rubber (IIR), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), as well as polychloroprene rubber (CR) and polyisoprene rubber (IR) are examined in detail. Per year, more than 12.6 million tonnes of these types of rubbers are consumed worldwide. More than one half of global demand is generated in the region Asia-Pacific. Due to above-average growth rates, the market share in this region will presumably rise to approx. 56% in 2022. The study deals with data for the years starting in 2006 and forecasts data until 2022. All information on demand, production, import and export for the period are indicated in tonnes - the revenues in the currencies US dollar and Euro.Elastically deformable plastics have been necessary for several technical applications but also for various everyday objects in the past decades. Demand for synthetic rubber is split in this report by the application areas tires, automotive applications, industry and construction, modification of materials (that is the admixture with other materials) as well as by the group of other applications. The most important sales market in 2014 was the segment tires: Almost 60% of total worldwide demand was generated by original equipment tires and replacement tires. Additionally, rubbers are used in various other products in the automotive industry. Among these are hoses, cables, gaskets as well as profiles for windows and doors. For this segment we forecast an increase of global demand by 2.4% p.a. until 2022.
The second largest application area for rubbers is the manufacturing of technical products such as conveyor belts, roll coverings, hoses, profiles, gaskets, cables, moldings, and roofing films. Ranging from the chemical industry, engineering, and construction to electrics and electronics, increasing numbers of rubber are needed. For the period from 2014 to 2022 we expect global demand for rubber in the segment industry and construction to increase by 2.9% p.a.
By far the most important type of products is SBR: more than 5.3 million tonnes were processed in 2014. SBR is produced by emulsion polymerization (E-SBR) or solution polymerization (S-SBR). While E-SBR accounts for 73% of total SBR demand, the market for S-SBR develops at significantly more dynamic growth rates of more than 5% p.a. The tire industry is the dominating sales market for these two products as well as for BR, IIR, and IR. The picture discernible in regard to EPDM, CR, and NBR is different: These are mainly used in industry and construction products as well as in modification of materials.
