Global industrial rubber products market is largely dependent upon natural rubber as a source of raw material. The natural rubber market is in a state of oversupply. Affected by the growing tapping area of natural rubber in main producing regions, the slowdown in the growth rate of the tyre industry and other factors, there will still be a glut of natural rubber worldwide during 2016-2025.
Consumption of the rubber in all over the world increased at approximately 3% in 2016. Industrial rubber products are used in wide range of end use industries. Automotive industry’s demand for the industrial rubber products globally constituted major share among all end use industries.
Increasing competition from China eroded profit margin of all the players in industrial rubber product market. Strong emergence of synthetic rubbers in the global industrial rubber products market can be mainly attributed to numerous interconnected factors. Highly volatile prices and irregularity in supply of natural rubber has compelled consumers to shift from natural rubber to synthetic rubber.
Growing demand from the automotive industry and rise in the application of rubber products in the end use industry are the key drivers of the industrial rubber product market. High growth of autonomous and battery vehicles is anticipated contribute significantly to the growth of automotive industry in the forecast period. Volatility in the raw material supply and fluctuating prices of the rubber is the main restraint for the industrial rubber products market in the forecast period. Increasing use of rubber products in construction and infrastructure industry and innovation in the products manufactured from synthetic rubber are the key opportunities in the industrial rubber products market.
Industrial rubber products marketcomprises plethora of rubber products such as automobile tyres, inflatable rafts, conveyor belts, hose, rubber roofing and many other rubber related products. Tyres are the principal product of industrial rubber products industry. Tyres are used in large numbers on automobiles, aircrafts and bicycles. Rubber products are manufactured in two stages. In first stage, the rubber goods are manufactured either by natural rubber or from the petroleum products. In second stage, the processing of rubber takes place to produce finished goods.
On the basis of rubber, the industrial rubber products market has been classified into: Natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, polybutadiene, ethylene-propylene, nitrile butadiene rubber and others. Natural rubber holds the major share in industrial rubber products market owing to its extensive use in the manufacture of automobile tyres all over the world. However, with the technology advancement and fluctuations in raw material prices, synthetic rubbers such as styrene butadiene rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber, and ethylene-propylene are expected to grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.
The market for industrial rubber products also covers various technologies such as: tyre manufacturing, tube manufacturing, moulded product manufacturing, extruded/calendared product manufacturing, fabricated product manufacturing, latex based product manufacturing and others.
In terms of products, the industrial rubber product market covers: Mechanical rubber goods, rubber hose, rubber belts, rubber roofing and others. Mechanical rubber goods witnessed the largest demand in 2016 and is expected to remain the key product segment through 2025. Mechanical rubber goods are employed heavily in automobile vehicles and the growth of the segment is largely attributable to the increasing motor vehicle output.
Rubber roofing is expected to grow at a promising rate due to the extensive use of rubber roofing product in commercial and residential buildings. With revival of construction industry, the rubber roofing segment is expected to witness huge growth during the forecast period
In terms of end use, industrial rubber products market is largely driven by the automotive sector. Numerous rubber related products finds applications in interior, structural and under the hood applications of an automobile. In developed countries, more than fifty % of the rubber used is for automobile tyres and tubes. A modern automobile has more than 300 components made out of rubber. The growth of the industrial rubber products is also attributable to the maintenance/repair/operations (MRO) market growth outpacing most original equipment manufacturer (OEM) segments.