Unlabelled oils may run short globally, as EU deadline approaches

By David Shaw, ERJ staff

Nuremberg, Germany - Unlabelled oils and oil-extended rubber materials are likely to be in short supply in the weeks prior to the advent of the new EU restriction on labelled oils.

From 1 January 2010, the EU will ban all products containing oils which require a label warning of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) content. Standard oil-extended styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBR 1705 or 1712 grades, for example) are significantly affected by this ruling.

Currently most 1712 and other oil-extended grades use labelled oils. In the EU, it will be illegal to sell products using these materials and made after the end of 2009. Also, where tyre companies and other rubber processors use regular grades of rubber (SBR 1501 for example) and add oils in the mixing room, those oils will need to be unlabelled oils.

Just six months before the ban comes into effect, only a small proportion of the oils being used in the rubber industry are unlabelled oils. According to industry sources, most tyre and rubber companies have developed new recipes and run successful trials based on unlabelled oils.

However, the same sources suggest that many companies had intended to run the more expensive unlabelled oils throughout their production processes for six to nine months prior to the deadline. Unfortunately, the financial crisis has led most to continue using the cheaper oils until the last possible moment. Almost all of these plan to convert in the weeks before the ban comes into effect.

It is far from clear if the suppliers can cope with the logistical issues surrounding a global switch to the new oils in the space of a few weeks.

Thorsten Lutze global sales director of Nynas, a leading supplier of unlabelled oils, said the company is putting in place new storage and logistical facilities to cope with the expected demand, but already the company has allocated all the supplies it expects to have available in North America. Resources destined for the EU and Asia are fast getting booked into customers who are planning ahead.

Lutze noted that any customer who leaves ordering the new oils until the last minute risks the possibility that there will be insufficient material available to meet their needs in the mid-term.

He strongly recommended that all companies which use oils in their recipes or use oil-extended rubber get in touch with their material suppliers to ensure availability in the period surrounding the introduction of the ban.