The World Market for Butadiene Rubber in Brief

As measured by the global turnover, butadiene rubber (BR) is the second most important rubber after styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR). BR is formed by the polymerization of butadiene. Products made of BR offer very high resilience, good insulation properties, abrasion resistance, and remain flexible at low temperatures.

According to the most recent study by the market research institute Ceresana, worldwide consumption for butadiene rubber amounts to about 3.44 million tonnes per year. The region Asia-Pacific accounted for over 57 % of global revenues, followed at a large distance by North America and Western Europe. Ceresana expects the revenues generated with BR to increase by, on average, 4.1 % per year until 2025.

Tires and Plastic Modification Are Main ApplicationsThe dominating sales market for BR is the segment automotive tires with a share of about 73 % of total global demand. Besides SBR, natural rubber, and carbon black, BR is the most important ingredient for tire manufacture. In 2025, tire manufacture is likely to consume 2.9 million tonnes of BR. However, the end use market with the highest percentage growth, 2.2 % per year on average, is the modification of engineering plastics. The mechanical properties of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) in particular can be improved by BR.