THE automobile industry’s requirement for tyres remains to be a key growth driver for synthetic rubber. According to US research firm Freedonia’s latest world tyre study, the increase in demand for tyres from Asia, in particular China and India, is estimated to reach 4.3% annually through 2017 to 2.9 billion units. This should bode well for the synthetic rubber industry
Synthetic rubber on a roll in Asia
Globally, synthetic rubber demand will reach 13.4 million tonnes by 2015, says Global Industry Analysts (GIA) in its latest study. It identifies end-use market industries of automotive and tyres as important determinants in building up or driving down demand. Furthermore, GIA says that the global synthetic rubber industry is tied to the dynamics in the motor vehicle market.
The Asia Pacific region dominated the market for synthetic rubber in 2012, accounting for an estimated half of global rubber consumption and output, according to a report by German research firm Ceresana. It says that the region is expected to continue to gain market share until 2020, with the automobile industry, and the growing demand for tyres, as well as industrial and construction products propelling growth in the market. Environmental concerns toward crude oil and its derivatives is seen by Ceresana as a deterrent for the industry to surge forward faster.
Meanwhile, Transparency Market Research says that China is the world’s largest producer and, at the same time, a key consumer of synthetic rubber for its large production plants for tyre and other products. The research firm says that China’s synthetic rubber capacity reached 4.98 million tonnes/year in 2013, accounting for 27% of the global synthetic rubber capacity. Styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (PBR) are China’s major synthetic rubbers produced, contributing 34.4% and 33.3% respectively to the total capacity in 2013.
Chinese synthetic rubber giants Sinopec and CNPC together had a lion’s share of 52.4% of the capacity last year. However, with the entry of Panjin Heyun, Liaoning Northern Dynasol, Lanxess and other enterprises, the top slot enjoyed by Sinopec and CNPC will be diluted and their combined share will drop to 44.1% by 2017.
Flurry of investments in Asia and Europe
Halogenated butyl rubber is a development priority in China. Last year, the realisation of Panjin Heyun’s 30,000- tonne/year halogenated butyl rubber project filled the gap lacking in China’s tyre industry. Panjin Heyun also plans to increase capacity to 180,000 tonnes/year in the next three to five years. Zhejiang Cenway’s 50,000-tonne/year halogenated butyl rubber plant is expected to be completed and put into operation at the end of 2014.
Last year, Russian petrochemicals firm Sibur entered into a venture with Sinopec to develop a synthetic rubber plant in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
In addition, Sibur and Sinopec are also exploring the feasibility of establishing a joint venture to manufacture nitrile butadiene rubber and isoprene rubber in Shanghai. The production lines are expected to have a capacity of 50,000 tonnes/year each.
Meanwhile, a group of firms from Taiwan are investing in a naptha cracker to be sited at the Gulei Petrochemical Zone in Zhangzhou, China. The group has finally been given the nod by the government in what is reported to be the first regulatory approval since the lifting of an investment ban in China’s downstream petrochemical industry.
The US$263.6 million naphtha cracker will be producing ethylene and propylene intermediates for synthetic rubber to help meet the rising demand for the latter in Taiwan. Moreover, Taiwan, which imports around 348,000 tonnes of ethylene, expects the China facility to buffer any local shortage of the feedstock in the future.
In India, Indian Oil Company (IOC) has built the country’s first-of-its-kind naptha cracker plant at its Panipat Refinery to bolster synthetic rubber production.
IOC is implementing a technology based on butadiene available from the Panipat naptha cracker complex to produce SBR used in the manufacturing of automotive tyres, conveyor and fan belts. In this venture, IOC is joined by Taiwan Synthetic Rubber Corporation (TSRC) and Marubeni Corporation, under the Indian Synthetic Rubber (ISRL) banner. The 958 crore
facility is designed to produce 120,000 tonnes/year.
Tyre regulations pushing SSBR to the front
Meanwhile, the tyre labelling regulations are stimulating demand for SSBR (solution styrene butadiene rubber) for tyre manufacturing.
According to another study by GIA, SSBR will have the upper hand in lieu of the implementation of stringent tyre labelling regulations in the European Union, China and South Korea that require tyre manufacturers to display tyre characteristics and performance features such as rolling resistance, fuel efficiency, wet grip features, and noise, among others, for easy comparison. The procedure puts pressure on tyre makers to produce high performance tyres using SSBR rather than the conventional SBR and ESBR. As such, Poland-based Synthos is constructing its first SSBR plant in Krakow, which it expects to be operational in 2015. The facility will have a capacity to produce about 90,000 tonnes/year of SSBR. Currently, Synthos has expanded its operation, and has formed a key alliance with US firm Harwick Standard Distribution Corp to distribute its SBR and butadiene products in the US and Canada.
Seeking out bio-alternatives
In November last year, French tyre maker Michelin initiated a project to assess the viability of organic sources like straw, beet and wood as alternatives to synthetic and natural rubbers used in tyres.
The project, known as the BioButterfly, is testing the economic viability of transforming bio-waste into materials for tyres. This is in preparation for the company’s projection of a likely supply shortage of butadiene, which is sourced from a petroleum byproduct, by 2020. It said that biomass (from agricultural materials) could be fermented to create alcohol that is further modified to form butadiene. The tyre industry consumes about 60% of the global output of
butadiene.
Michelin has been joined by US-based biomassconversion-to-clean fuel firm Axens (to provide the expertise in process engineering and marketing) and French public-sector research and training centre IFPEN on the BioButterfly project to create a biosourced butadiene production channel.
Later last year, French firm Tereos, the world’s fourth largest sugar producer, also joined the team to develop industrial scale biomass from agricultural raw materials.
The team is, thus, focusing on producing economically competitive butadiene while ensuring minimal carbon emissions across the entire production chain; manufacturing high performance synthetic rubber and adopting the process to all uses of bio-butadiene. It is also focused on lowering investment costs and preparing the future French biosourced synthetic rubber industry.
BioButterfly operates on a EUR52 million budget that will be extended over eight years.
The Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) of France also selected the project to receive EUR14.7 million in financing as part of the agency’s “Investing in the Future” programme.
Also on track to producing alternatives to synthetic rubber is agro-biomaterials company Yulex. The US firm has opened a Seed & Genetics Centre in Arizona to support the global commercial development of guayule rubber
plantations for medical, consumer, industrial and bioenergy applications.
Strategies to cultivate non-GMO sources, as well as developing techniques to improve guayule rubber’s yield and quality will be honed, according to Yulex. A diverse variety of applications Applications for synthetic rubber have also expanded for various industries such as medical, sporting, construction and transportation sectors, with the intensive R&D efforts currently being exerted by a majority of companies. German speciality chemicals firm Lanxess has commercialised six grades of bio-EPDM featuring high molecular weight and a diene content of around 9%, making them ideal for fabricating foamed sections for automotive window seals.
Autotravi, a major South American automotive supplier based in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, is one such supplier that is using the Keltan Eco 5470 grade for its window seals that are supplied to Marcopolo, a Brazilian bus manufacturer. The weather-resistant synthetic rubber contains up to 70% ethylene obtained from sugarcane, and has an impressive set of properties that are in no way inferior to that of “conventional” EPDM, says Lanxess.
Meanwhile, the high molecular weight properties of Lanxess’s Keltan EPDM has also been used to make air-cushioned shockabsorbing inserts for running shoes that are intended to provide effective protection against certain orthopedic problems. While air, heat and humidity – unavoidable in running shoes – can cause natural rubber to become brittle over time, EPDM rubber, however, is significantly more resistant to these influences. For that reason, German inventor Helmut Fritzschis utilises the Keltan 9565Q grade for his shoe pads to sports and leisure shoes.
In the medical sector, more than 90% of antibiotic, infusion and biomedical stoppers made in Europe, the US and Asia are based on halobutyl rubber. One such supplier for this is US-based ExxonMobil Chemical.
The material is said to be ideal for stoppers and seals because of its high cleanliness and chemical resistance as well as low permeability to air, gases and moisture. The synthetic rubber offers a number of other advantages over natural rubber and other synthetic rubbers in pharmaceutical packaging, including: chemically and biologically inertness; low extractables due to low level of additives and high curing efficiency; resistance to heat, ozone and oxygen; good self-sealing and fragmentation performance and is vulcanisable by low level of sulphur-free and/or zinc-free curatives.
For the construction industry, US speciality chemicals firm Mallard Creek Polymers (MCP) has created a performance emulsion polymer product designed for waterproofing, moisture vapour and air barrier coatings, in addition to polymer systems for EIFS and cement modification.
BarrierPro 4551 is a highly water-resistant product to meet the demanding building system requirement, with high strength and medium flexibility, and gives less than one perm MVTR as measured by ASTM E-96, according to MCP.
The product is an addition to MCP’s recent styrene-butadiene latex range. These are: Tylac 4193, acement modification latex developed to enhance adhesion of cementitious membranes and coatings, and BarrierPro 4555, a water-resistant
latex designed for damp proofing applications.
Another US firm Precision Polymer (PP) has developed an EPDM elastomer material that provides high temperature steam resistance.
EnDura E90SR is used in pumps, valves, turbines, geothermal tools and drilling equipment.
It can withstand high pressures and temperatures up to 300°C with resistance to rapid gas decompression, making the material ideal for use in anaerobic high temperature environments, such as those encountered in geothermal applications and enhanced oil recovery applications, according to PP.