Synthetic rubber is poised for a decline as crude oil price sets to decrease. Interestingly , in the last couple of years when the NR production plummeted, the SR output has grown in the country .
The growth has been remarkable during 201415, when the crude oil prices began to oscillate. As per the Rubber Board data, synthetic rubber production jumped 35 % to 1,51,891 tonne in 201415. The consumption too went up by 11 % to 5,36,130 tonne. On the other hand, NR production dropped 15 % in the ast two years. The industries depend more on import of SR to bridge the gap between supply and demand. “We are expecting a 5 to 6 % drop n the prices of SR nitirile butadiene which is consumed by the nontyre industry . The industry uses over 1 lakh tonne of the commodity,” said Mohinder Gupta, president of All India Rubber ndustries’ Association. When the natural rubber prices touched record levels around five years ago, the use of synthetic rubber increased in the rubber goods industry .
However, it was difficult for them to shift back when the NR prices nosedived. Take for instance the footwear industry which used to consumer 70 % natural rubber and 30 % SR. The ratio now is almost 50:50. “Synthetic rubber is not a perfect substitute for NR. But it helps in increasing the durability of the footwear and makes it light in weight,” said K T
Thomas, managing director of Paragon Group, leading footwear manufacturer in the country .
A major share of the SR consumption is by the tyre industry. The %age of use is more in car radials. Here, too, like the nontyre sector the SR consumption has been going up. The NR usage in tyre could have dropped from 70 % to 65 or lower with a gain for SR. “But there is a limit to which NR can be substituted by SR. The industry can’t go beyond that point,” pointed out Rajiv Budhraja, director general of Automotive Tyre Manufaturers’ Association (Atma).