Global NBR market growing at 6% CAGR

ERJ staff report (TP)

Albany, New York – Acryloitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) demand was worth $1.7 billion (€1.25bn) in 2010 and is expected to reach $2.7 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 5.9 percent from 2013 to 2018, according to Transparency Market Research – a global market intelligence company.

Asia Pacific was the leading market for NBR, accounting for approximately 48 percent of the global market volumes in 2011, followed by Europe and North America.

The market demand for NBR is increasing due to growth in the global automobile sector; moreover natural rubber is creating a big cross over opportunity for NBR. Growing number of disease outbreaks and increasing safety concerns is also boosting the global market for NBR. However, rising prices of raw materials and increasing environmental concerns are the major barriers inhibiting the growth of the market.

The global market for NBR by application includes hose, belting and cable, O-rings and seals, medical and industrial gloves, moulded and extruded products, adhesives and sealants. Hose, belting and cable is the largest application segment of NBR accounting for approximately 28 percent of the global NBR produced in 2011. Medical and industrial segments are the fastest growing application segments of NBR due to growing demand for NBR gloves from the medical industry owing to growing health concerns and disease outbreaks. In terms of volume the market is growing at a CAGR of 6 percent from 2013 to 2018.

NBR shared approximately 14.3 percent of the global rubber gloves market in 2011. NBR is also the fastest growing product segment in the global rubber gloves market, growing at a CAGR of 9.3 percent from 2013 to 2018. Due to the steady growth of NBR, it is expected to increase its market share to 15.3 percent by 2018. Rubber gloves used for medical purposes were the biggest application segment sharing 82 percent of the application market in 2011. Malaysia is the largest producer of NBR gloves sharing 62 percent of the global market, followed by Thailand and Indonesia.

Some of the key players of NBR glove manufacturers are Top gloves, Supermax Corporation, Latexx Partners Berhad, and Adventa. Key suppliers to glove manufacturers are Lubrizol, Dow Chemicals, DSM and Zeon Chemicals.