[20 Feb] China 2010 Acrylic Rubber Demand to Reach 24,000-26,000 Tons

Chinese demand for acrylic rubber will total 24,000-26,000 metric tons in 2010, of which about half will be demand from the automobile industry, the Houston-based International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers said in a report Thursday.

Acrylic rubber is a high-resistance synthetic rubber used to make oil hoses in automobiles. Chinese demand for acrylic rubber has registered an annual growth rate of about 8% since 2007.

China

has been a bright spot for auto makers facing weak demand in many of the developed markets. In January 2010, China's auto sales surged to a monthly record of 1.66 million vehicles.

The IISRP said Chinese auto makers will need about 12,000 tons of acrylic rubber this year, while the automobile maintenance sector would require another 12,000-14,000 tons.

The forecast was prepared by the China National Chemical Information Center and jointly published with the IISRP.

Some of the supply could come from within China, where private sector companies are playing an increasingly bigger role in the synthetic rubber industry, alongside public sector major players such as Sinopec and PetroChina.

According to the CNCIC, these private companies are expected to add an additional capacity of 300,000 tons of synthetic rubber a year. Much of the new capacity will be for speciality elastomers.

CNCIC data showed five ongoing projects in China will also add 360,000 tons of poly-butadiene rubber capacity this year. In 2009, Chinese poly-butadiene rubber production reached 540,000 tons, accounting for about 15.9% of global poly-butadiene rubber capacity.

Poly-butadiene rubber is mainly used in the production of automobile tires, alongside natural rubber.