14 Aug 2014
ERJ staff report (TP)
San Francisco – The global styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) market will be worth $23 billion (€17.2bn) by 2020, according to Grand View Research.
The US-based market research and consulting company said the increasing demand for SBR in tire manufacturing is expected to support growth over the forecast period.
Tires were the single largest application segment for SBR market accounting for 73.5% of global consumption in 2013. Footwear had a small unspecified share, but is expected to witness “significant growth” due to the increase in sport shoe soles. In addition, the increasing price of natural rubber has created a crossover opportunity for synthetic rubbers such as SBR.
The implementation of tire labelling regulation in the EU, Japan and Korea, which is a prerequisite for manufacturing of high grade ‘green tires’, is expected to augment S-SBR demand.
EU regulations have made it mandatory for all manufacturers to label their tires for wet grip and rolling resistance. According to Grand View Research, “certain SBR manufacturers, such as Lanxess, have converted their E-SBR plants to S-SBR in order to meet the growing demand from the tire manufacturers”.
The global SBR market was 5,122.4 kilotons in 2013 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2014 to 2020.
Asia Pacific was the largest consumer of SBR in 2013, accounting for over 46% of global demand. The growing automobile industry in China, India and Japan is expected to boost the demand for tires which in turn is expected to drive the SBR market over the forecast period. In addition, Grand View Research said it is expected that China and India would implement tire labelling regulations in line with the EU regulations by 2015, which is expected to have a positive impact on S-SBR sales in near future.
Europe was the second largest consumer of SBR in 2013, with consumption exceeding 1,000 kilotons. EU labelling regulations which came into effect from 2012 are expected to augment the demand for S-SBR over the forecast period. Germany, Italy and France are expected to witness increased tire production in the next couple of years in light of the new regulations.
The global market is fragmented, with the top ten companies accounting for less than 65% of the market in 2013. Major companies have been focusing on integration in order to offset the effect of variable raw material prices. Lanxess, Sinopec and CNPC are some of the company’s manufacturing E-SBR and S-SBR.
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