Growth slows for rubber chemicals

Market recovery likely to be hampered by geopolitical, macroeconomic uncertainties

Consumption of many rubber-processing chemicals recovered slightly in 2021 following declines in most markets in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. The global market for rubber-processing chemicals was a little over 1.5 million mt in 2021, valued at $6.2 billion, according to the Rubber-Processing Chemicals Report published recently by S&P Global's Specialty Chemicals Update Program.

Uncertainties caused by the war in Ukraine, ongoing global supply-chain disruptions, and the potential for recession in many economies around the world may hinder further recovery of the rubber-processing chemicals market in 2022, the report says.

Mainland China was the biggest consumer of rubber-processing chemicals in 2021, accounting for almost half the world's consumption, and is expected to retain its position as the biggest consumer in 2022 and through 2027, the period covered by the report's forecast.

Mainland China has, however, entered a phase of slower development, as the country's government and general industry are increasingly focused on sustainable development and environmental issues, the report says.

"Domestic policies have significantly affected rubber-processing chemicals as well as the rubber industry and the downstream automotive, tire, and other rubber goods industries," the report adds.

Other Asia – excluding Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan – was the region with the second-highest consumption of rubber-processing chemicals in 2021, followed by North America and Western Europe. Other Asia is expected to record the highest annual growth rate during the 2022-27 period, followed by Mainland China and the Middle East, according to the report.

Other Asia is also the biggest natural rubber-producing region in the world, accounting for more than 80% of total global production of NR, the report says.

The North American market for rubber-processing chemicals is expected to recover to 2018-19 consumption levels by the end of 2022. However, continued recovery could be limited by the possibility of a recession in the US in 2023, the report says.

Consumption of rubber-processing chemicals in Western Europe will likely continue to grow, but demand in Central and Western Europe is expected to decline in 2022, with the economics of Russia and Ukraine expected to experience a strong recession, the report notes.

"Rubber-processing checmicals are a requisite component to pre- and post-rubber production and consumption, as well as an additive(s) component for specified end-use applications, in all respects," the report says.

They improve the resistance of rubber to heat, oxidation, sunlight, ozone, and mechanical stresses, and some of them greatly improve the overall process of vulcanization. Rubber-processing chemicals include a wide range of product types such as accelerators, activators, and vulcanizing agents; antidegradants such as antioxidants and antiozonants; and stabilizers, the report says.

Antidegradants were the type of rubber-processing chemical consumed the most in 2021, accounting for more than half of total consumption among the major consuming countries and regions. Antidegradants are expected to remain the major product type in 2022 and through 2027, the report says.

The markets for most types of rubber-processing chemical track the general production and consumption of the major synthetic rubbers, or SR, as well as the NR market, the report says.

"Natural rubber is siphoned from cultivated trees on plantations in Asia, Africa, and certain parts of Central and South America. Synthetic rubber is a man-made product and produced in manufacturing plants that synthesize the product from petroleum and other chemistries. Natural rubber has been cultivated and produced for many centuries, while synthetic rubber has been produced for roughly 100-150 years," according to the report.

NR is, in its simplest form, a naturally occurring elastomeric polymer of isoprene with excellent resistance to abrasion, impact, tear, and heat buildup because of hysteresis, the report says. NR is also characterized by very good tensile strength, green strength, resilience, flexibility, aging stability, and building tack. However, NR is not very resistant to oxidation, ozone, weathering, and a wide range of chemicals and solvents, the report adds.

Commercial-scale manufacturing of synthetic rubber started during World War II, and the first SR plants were built in Europe, North America, and Japan in 1945. Since then, the variety of SRs – and their applications – has multiplied, the report says.

General-purpose rubber refers mainly to styrene-butadiene rubber, or SBR, made by emulsion or solution polymerization, which together with NR is the basis of the automotive tire industry, the report says. Other examples of SR include special-purpose rubber, stereospecific rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers, and the "new entrants" polyolefin elastomers, or POEs, the report adds.

POEs bridge the gap between plastics and elastomers. They combine many of the physical properties of a rubber with the processing advantages of a thermoplastic, the report says.

"The tire and automotive sectors are the backbone of the rubber and rubber-processing chemical industries. Michelin, Bridgestone, and Goodyear remained the top three global tire producers in the world for 2021. However, in the last 20 years, many large tire manufacturers have started up operations in mainland China and India, beginning to take share away from the top-three global tire producers," the report says.

This story also appears on Chemical Week by S&P Global