Russia's 2013 synthetic rubber exports up 8.3 percent year-on-year

ERJ staff report (TP)

London − Russia's exports of synthetic rubber rose 8.3 percent year-on-year to 943,500 tonnes in 2013, according to the country's Federal Customs Service's (FCS) data released Friday (14 February), reported Platts.

The FCS did not give details of export volumes for each month. But last month it said Russia exported 859,600 tonnes of synthetic rubber in January-November. This puts December exports at 83,900 tonnes, up by 3.1 percent year-on-year.

Revenue from exporting synthetic rubber continued to decline, with just under $2.4m (€1.75m) reported for 2013. This was a decrease of 11.2 percent from 2012, as the global synthetic rubber market was under pressure.

Prices of different grades of synthetic rubber vary significantly.

According to Platts data, the spot price of emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (ESBR) 1502 in Northwest Europe averaged at €1,417/tonne in the final quarter of last year. This compares to €1,917.5/tonne in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The bulk of exports, 89.3 percent, went to countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), stable from the previous year. Belgium, Poland, China, Hungary, Belarus and the US were the main destinations.

Main destinations for Russian synthetic rubber exports in 2013, tonnes

Country Volume

Belgium 168,831

Poland 91,656

China 86,695

Hungary 77,379

Belarus 63,854

US 52,755

Latvia 39,975

Turkey 36,709

Romania 30,679

Czech Rep. 30,362

Source: Rosstat

According to the information published by Russia's Statistics Office last month, output of synthetic rubber in 2013 totalled 1.48m tonnes, up by 2.7 percent on the year.

This suggests that Russia continued to export over half (63.75 percent) of the domestically synthesised rubber. But Russia also imports rubber, both synthetic and natural.

In 2013, Russian imports of synthetic rubber totalled 87,466 tonnes, mainly from Germany, South Korea and Finland.

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Full story from Platts