Global rubber market to generate $56 billion by 2020

Ceresana, an international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector,has produced a new study analysing the global rubber market, which looks at five areas including forecasts for synthetic rubbers, examining demand, evaluating application areas and profiling manufacturers.

The company says that the importance of rubbers, which are an integral part of everyday products and are indispensable in the industrial sector, can be judged from the fact that global revenues will rise to approx. US$56 billion (GBP £36.5 billion) in 2020.

Market analysts at Ceresana included the most important types of rubber in their report, inlcuidng styrene butadiene rubber (SBR); polybutadiene rubber (BR); acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR); butyl rubber (IIR); ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM); polychloroprene rubber (CR) and polyisoprene rubber (IR).

Ceresana says by far most important type of rubber is SBR. In 2012, more than 5.4 million tonnes were processed; the second most important product is BR that accounted for about a quarter of global market volume that year. Major application areas for both types of rubber is the production of tyres, accounting for almost 70 percent of consumption. The picture discernible in regard to EPDM and NBR is different, says Ceresana, as NBR is highly resistant against oils, fats, and fuels, it is more often used in the manufacturing of industrial products such as hoses, cog wheels, belts, gaskets, and moulded parts. EPDM is mainly processed into gaskets, hoses and cables that are used in vehicles.

The report also looks in details at the dominating markets for global rubber production. “In 2012, Asia-Pacific accounted for about half of global rubber consumption and roughly 47 percent of global output,” explained Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana. North America ranked second, closely followed by Western and Eastern Europe. Market analysts at Ceresana expect countries in Asia-Pacific to continue to gain market shares; until 2020, demand for individual product types is expected to increase by between 2.0 and 7.7 percent per year. Among the most influential factors are the automobile industry, as well as demand for industrial products and construction material.