Growing population and rising economic conditions stimulate tyre demand. Asia Pacific region is predicted to lead in scaling up tyre demand further.
ExxonMobil Chemicals in its report, The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040,forecasts tyre demand in a longer term, in the context of growing population (up by 2 billion by 2040), and a 130% increase in global economy, to cite a few. This translates to expanding fleets, as more people in developing economiesare able to buy cars. Fuel efficient and hybrid vehicles will rack up demand.
At the 7th Tire Symposium organised by ExxonMobil in Beijing from September 14-15, John Lyon, Vice President for the Specialty Elastomer and Butyl business of ExxonMobil Chemical provided insights on the tyre market.
“As the world’s population increases and grows economically, the number of vehicles tends to grow with it, “says Lyon, who, in the context of the report the company released this year, summarises that vehicle growth directly translates to increased demand for tyres. He said that the company anticipates overall tyre demand to grow more than 4% annually over the next 10 years, with the most significant demand from Asia. Meanwhile, exports from Asia are anticipated to grow; North America and Europe are expected to import more than half of their tyres. As a result, virtually all the growth in tyre production is expected to be an Asia; with nearly two out of three tyres currently produced globally, are made in the region.
New investments on Halobutyl
Naturally, rise in requirement for tyres has impact on demand for halobutyl, for which, among other specialty chemicals and materials, ExxonMobil produces and supplies.
Premium halobutyl is the material of choice for innerliners, Lyons said. “We expect the demand for halobutyl to grow along with the demand for tyres due to ongoing radialisation, but more importantly, due to improvement in tyre quality. We are committed to meeting this growth by offering high quality halobutyl from our two latest investments in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, “he said.
With these two new facility investments in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, which is a joint venture with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC); and Singapore, ExxonMobil assures that it is able to supply global tyre manufacturers with the highest quality halobutyl.
Likewise, the Saudi facility, which is expected to start up in 2015, will offer a wide range of raw materials applicable to the tyre and automotive industry, according to Lyon. ExxonMobil will be the sole marketer for halobutyl out of this facility.
Meanwhile, the Singapore facility, which is ExxonMobil’s Asia Pacific manufacturing hub, is a world-scale petrochemical complex. “This facility will produce halobutyl as well as our newly introduced Oppera modifiers and hydrocarbon resins for the adhesives aimed at meeting the growing demand of the tyre industry”, said Lyon, informing too that construction of said facility is ongoing and scheduled to start up in 2017.
Demand for sustainability
The issue of sustainability also figures in making tyres more efficient. For this, ExxonMobil responds by way of addressing the key challenge of sustainable development, that is, balancing economic growth, social development and environmental protection so future generations are not compromised by current actions, Lyon says.
Explaining how ExxonMobil is in sync with sustainability, Lyon provides as an example their halobutyl rubber, which he says, renders excellent resistance to heat, ozone, and flex fatigue, in addition to excellent air retention properties. Its outstanding compatibility and adhesion helped in the development of tubeless radial tyres for both passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks. “The attributes of conventional halobutyl rubber-based tyre inner liners continue to improve, helping to reduce tyre weight and improve air permeability which has, in turn, augmented the durability of tyre casings,as well as positively impacted fuel economy, “ Lyon said.
ExxonMobil believes that air retention capability is paramount to sustaining performance in tyres over the entire life cycle, and this will be aided by its offerings such as the Exxcore DVA resin, which is an advanced tyre inner liner; and its recently launched BIIR 6222 that offers superior air barrier as well as processing performance for inner liners compared to currently available halobutyl material.
Lauding new standards
There are measures, such as tyre labelling (Europe and other countries) and green tyre specification (China), being adopted to ensure tyre efficiency being a core aspect to sustainability. “The European tyre labelling, an approach that is still relatively new, has been in effect since late 2012. The intent of this approach is to drive enhancements that are focused on making more efficient tires. It is critical to design tyres that maintain superior performance, such as rolling resistance, throughout their life cycle , and not just when the tyre is first put to use, “ Lyon opines.
He also said that the firm conducts surveys to determine relevance of halobutyl on tyres.
“For the last 30 years, ExxonMobil has conducted series of tyre surveys to understand the influence of halobutyl on air retention, measured by inflation pressure loss rate (IPLR) and its impact on tire performance such as rolling resistance and durability. From our 11th tyre survey conducted on passenger car tyres, we found that with 25% pressure loss the rolling resistance increases by 16%. And a 15% drop in pressure is sufficient for a European labelling class to change. For example, a class C tyre starts to perform like class E at 15% has underinflation, “ Lyonemphasised why air retention matters.
Moreover, he adds that from their latest truck tyre survey, less than 20% of China-made tyres have an inflation pressure loss rate (IPLR) of 0.6%, which is considered the best-in-class performance. IPLR is an indicator of air retention in tyres measured as percentage of pressure loss per month. “We estimate that if all the truck and bus tyres in China reach this best-in-class performance of 0.6% IPLR, it would result in almost 800 million litres of fuel savings per year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 1.9 million metric tonnes per year. And this is achievable using today’s technology, “ he said.