Global synthetic rubber market production forecast at 17,690 kt by 2027
Pune, India – Asia is the largest synthetic rubber production and consumption region around the globe, where synthetic rubber production and demand in 2020 were 8.365 million tons and 8.5 million tons separately, holding approximately 58.0% and 60.0% of global production and demand, while synthetic rubber production and demand in Europe were 3,645 kt and 3,160 kt separately as a percentage of about 25.3% and 22.2% of global total respectively. Synthetic rubber production and demand in the Americas were 2,403 kt and 2,420 kt, commanding about 16.7% and 17.0% of global total, respectively as reported by ReportLinker.
Synthetic rubber is a polymer product made of coal, petroleum and natural gas as main raw materials and polymerized with dienes and olefins as monomers, which is typically divided into general synthetic rubber and special synthetic rubber. The seven categories have been utilized most for industrial purposes, including SBR, BR, CR, NBR, EPR, IIR and IR. Merited by high elasticity, insulation, air tightness, oil resistance, low/high temperature resistance and other properties, synthetic rubbers found wide application in industrial production, agriculture, national defense, transportation and people’s daily life.
Impacted by COVID-19, global economies suffer setbacks, so does the market of synthetic rubber whose production and sales registered 14,413 kt and 14,223 kt respectively in 2020, down 4.2% and 6.1% on an annualized basis. As the Pandemic gets eased, global synthetic rubber production and consumption will rebound steadily from 2022 to 2024, and then show fluctuations, with still an anticipated balance between supply and demand. Till 2027, production and consumption of synthetic rubbers will hopefully reach 17,690 kt tons and 17,630 kt respectively.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of synthetic rubber, with production up 9.7% year on year to 8,117 kt in 2021.
Despite the sizable production at home, Chinese synthetic rubber still cannot meet the market demand, with heavy reliance on imports. In 2020, China imported around 7,114 kt of synthetic rubbers and exported roughly 446 kt, indicating the net import up to 6,668 kt.
The Chinese synthetic rubber market tends to be highly market-oriented and intensely competitive among enterprises. Participants in the industry include both large state-owned enterprises such as Sinopec and CNPC, as well as SMEs like Blue Star New Chemical Material, Tianli High&Newtech, Qixiang Tengda and Zhejiang Longsheng. In 2020, the synthetic rubber output of Sinopec and CNPC reached 1,067 kt and 1,001 kt respectively, with market shares of 14.4% and 13.5% (by production).