US-based Panaridus has announced during the recent International Tyre Exhibition and Conference (ITEC) its public release of the first samples of locally produced guayule rubber.
Qualified parties can ask for samples through the company website (www.PanAridus.com/contact) from the “Guayule Sample Inquires” option.
“While the first century of exploring domestic alternatives to Hevea rubber from Asia and petroleum-based synthetic rubber has been marked by uncertainty, we’ve been able to unlock the Rosetta Stone through genetics, agronomics and sustained research,” CEO Michael Fraley said.
“For the first time, the industry is being offered samples of guayule rubber to independently verify it meets the necessary standards to be a viable alternative for making tyres and countless other products,” he said.
The Arizona sited company has began breeding and cultivating guayule, a local Sonoran Desert plant, three years ago in arid regions.The company. In addition to reducing water use, the virtually waste-free and drought-tolerant plant can be used for rubber, resins or cellulosic feedstock for biomass,.
“At PanAridus, we’re ‘seeding rubber’s future’ by unlocking its profit at the farm gate, making it viable for farmers in arid climates like the Southwestern U.S. to make more money per acre growing it (guayule) than they can growing traditional water-intensive crops like cotton and alfalfa, ” Fraley said, attributing their success to its guayule germ-plasm bank; its team of world renowned experts developing patented genetic strains over the last four years; and their patent pending extraction process.
“History is replete with examples of short rubber supplies due to monopolies, high rubber prices due to the cost and global demand of oil, and short bursts of intense research into rubber alternatives because of geopolitical crises. Today, all of the above apply; and with emerging markets around the globe, cheap oil peaked and cartels artificially altering supply levels to inflate their profits, the time is right to realize the dreams of Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, Dwight Eisenhower and Henry Ford to create a natural and domestically produced source of high quality rubber,” Fraley said.