The consumption of synthetic rubbers in Russia

Kauchuk i Rezina, No. 3, 2015, pp. 38 41 The consumption of synthetic rubbers in Russia A.A. Fomina and A.V. Chemagin OOO Sibur, Moscow Selected from International Polymer Science and Technology, 42, No. 11, 2015, reference KR 15/03/38; transl. serial no. 17563 Translated by P. Curtis The level of development of any country is characterised primarily by the extent to which modern and innovative materials are used. A special place here is occupied by the products of petrochemical plants, which are now used in all sectors of industry, without exception. Today, one of the most high-tech and material-intensive areas of the petrochemical complex is the production of synthetic rubbers. On the cusp of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, simultaneously in Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the theory of rubber synthesis began to be developed intensively. The first attempts to organise the industrial production of synthetic rubber were made in Germany and America. However, as is known, the first large-tonnage production of synthetic rubber proved possible in the Soviet Union alone, using the method developed by S.V. Lebedev in 1932. The active development of the motor industry in the twentieth century provoked an intensive growth in the demand for rubber. In the 1950s, the rapid development of synthetic rubber production began, and in less than 40 years the production of synthetic rubbers was transformed into one of the leading sectors of heavy organic synthesis [1]. Russia now possesses considerable capacity for the production of synthetic rubbers. Russian enterprises account for about 10% of production capacity worldwide, which makes our country a serious player on the world synthetic rubber market. In 2014, Russia stood in fifth place worldwide in terms of capacity rating (Figure 1). The Russian synthetic rubber market is characterised by a high degree of saturation and consolidation. The two largest players on the market are PAO Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNKh) and PAO Sibur Holding (Sibur) (Figure 2). Figure 1. Russia s share of worldwide capacities in 2014, thousand t: world; Russia Figure 2. The balance of the Russian synthetic rubber market in 2014, thousand t 2016 Smithers Information Ltd. T/43

The Russian synthetic rubber industry possesses a number of features (Table 1): 1. An export orientation the share of exports in production amounts to about 70%. 2. A low import level the share of imports in consumption amounts to no more than 10%. 3. Limited demand on the internal market. The consumption of synthetic rubbers on Russia s internal market has a high growth potential, but today it is falling far behind the level of consumption in Europe, America, and China. In the tyre sector, Russia accounts for about 5% of the total world consumption of synthetic rubbers. For comparison, Europe accounted for 18% in 2014, America for 21%, and China for 33% (Figure 3). The consumption of synthetic rubbers in the mechanical rubber goods sector in Russia is considerably lower and in total is of the order of 2% of world consumption. Here, in 2014, Europe accounted for 18%, America for 15%, and China for 45% (Figure 4). The development of the synthetic rubber industry will be influenced significantly in the long term by the development of the tyre and motor industry. The production of tyres in Russia in the past six years has shown stable growth from 27.2 million tyres in 2009 to 46.8 million tyres by 2014. Practically all the leaders in the world tyre industry have now opened up plants in Russia: Michelin, Nokian, Continental, Pirelli, and Yokohama. Bridgestone plans to start up a factory in Ul yanovsk in 2018. It is worth noting that the share of production of foreign tyre companies on Russia s internal market expanded to 52% in 2014 (Figure 5). The development of foreign tyre plants on the Russian market is influencing the structure of rubber consumption. Recently, the main attention of producers has been focused on the production of tyres of high quality and low ecological impact. Producers are striving to achieve and improve the durability, wear resistance, and hot and wet road holding of tyres, and at the same time retain low rolling resistance. In this connection, tyre workers are actively using in their formulations new-generation high-tech rubbers, which make it possible to ensure the above properties. For analysis of the structure of consumption of synthetic rubbers on Russia s internal market, we will examine Figure 3. Consumption of synthetic rubbers in the tyre sector, thousand t Figure 4. Consumption of synthetic rubbers in the mechanical rubber goods sector, thousand t T/44 International Polymer Science and Technology, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2016

SOLUTION-POLYMERISED STYRENE BUTADIENE RUBBER (SSBR) Figure 5. The structures of tyre production in Russia in 2009 2014: foreign producers; Russian producers the balances of consumption with respect to the types of synthetic rubber. The consumption presented below has been calculated using a balance formula (Tables 1 and 2). EMULSION-POLYMERISED STYRENE BUTADIENE RUBBER (ESBR) The ESBR production plants in Russia belong to PAO Sibur Holding (OAO Voronezhsintezkauchuk and OOO Tol yattikauchuk) and to OAO Sterlitamakskii neftekhimicheskii zavod (SNKhZ). ESBR production on Russia s internal market in 2014 amounted to 104 thousand t. In the periods of crises in 2009 2010 and also 2013 2014, a general reduction in the emulsionpolymerised rubber market occurred. This was true of production, export, and consumption. The main factor here was a reduction in the demand for tyres, as a major segment of ESBR consumption. As Russia possesses considerable capacity for ESBR production, the level of import of these rubbers, as can be seen from Table 2, is minimal. The ESBR importers are the aforementioned tyre works of foreign companies located in Russia. The main volume of imported rubber comprises standard grades of non-oilextended ESBR that are widely used for the production of motor vehicle tyres. The only producer of rubbers of this type in Russia is OOO Voronezhsintezkauchuk. The consumption of SSBR on Russia s internal market is showing a dynamic growth. In 2014 it amounted to 40 thousand t, which is considerably above the 2009 level. The high share of exports of the SSBR volumes produced in Russia must be noted. This indicates the demand for the product from foreign users. In spite of the considerable volumes of export, the import of SSBRs since 2009 has increased practically threefold, which is due primarily to the development of the production of foreign tyre companies. SSBRs of the leading world producers Asahi Kasei, Lanxess, Trinseo, (formerly Styron), and Versalis are being imported into Russia. These companies are the acknowledged leaders in the production of these rubbers and often work directly with tyre workers, taking into account their need for the development of new grades of SSBR. BUTADIENE RUBBER (BDR) The production plants belong to PAO Nizhnekamskneftekhim, OAO Voronezhsintezkauchuk, and OAO Efremovskii zavod SK (EZSK). The consumption of BDR on the internal market amounted in 2014 to 80 thousand t. The share of exports in production is stable and amounts to about 75%. BDRs produced in Russia are supplied to factories of the leading tyre producers worldwide. A twofold growth in the volumes of import of BDRs into Russia has been noted in the past 5 years, which is due primarily to growth in the demand for neodymium butadiene rubber (BDR-ND). Like the growth in the volumes of imported SSBR, this is due to expansion of the production in Russia of tyres and mechanical rubber goods by foreign companies. Along with SSBR, BDR-ND is being actively used in the production of modern tyres with increased ecology and safety requirements. The largest importer for Russia is Lanxess. Table 1. The Russian balance of production and consumption in 2009 2014 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Production (thousand t) 963 1163 1235 1248 1254 1138 Export (thousand t) 650 801 851 801 881 765 Import (thousand t) 19 26 32 43 34 44 Consumption (thousand t) 332 388 416 490 407 417 For export in production (%) 67 69 69 64 70 67 For import in consumption (%) 6 7 8 9 8 11 2016 Smithers Information Ltd. T/45

Table 2. Russian balance of production and consumption for different types of synthetic rubber in 2009 2014 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 ESBR Capacity (thousand t) 420 404 378 378 378 378 Utilisation of plants (%) 51 53 60 58 55 40 Share of exports in production (%) 56 72 55 42 53 34 Share of imports in production (%) 1 2 1 2 4 3 Consumption (thousand t) 96 60 104 130 101 104 SSBR Capacity (thousand t) 24 24 24 24 25 40 Utilisation of plants (%) 2 46 63 74 55 29 Share of exports in production (%) 0 74 87 65 90 58 Share of imports in production (%) 75 65 57 66 64 71 Consumption (thousand t) 3 6 5 12 7 13 BDR Capacity (thousand t) 320 311 361 361 361 376 Utilisation of plants (%) 67 88 84 84 83 73 Share of exports in production (%) 77 74 74 74 76 74 Share of imports in production (%) 6 7 7 10 14 14 Consumption (thousand t) 52 75 85 86 83 80 IPR Capacity (thousand t) 424 426 476 476 506 506 Utilisation of plants (%) 69 94 90 89 81 75 Share of exports in production (%) 52 55 64 56 61 62 Share of imports in production (%) Consumption (thousand t) 141 179 153 186 159 143 BR + HBR Capacity (thousand t) 168 198 198 218 238 273 Utilisation of plants (%) 105 94 98 95 99 93 Share of exports in production (%) 103 96 96 96 97 97 Share of imports in production (%) 47 50 41 55 62 48 Consumption (thousand t) 4 5 8 9 10 10 NBR Capacity (thousand t) 53 53 43 43 43 43 Utilisation of plants (%) 60 76 91 95 85 74 Share of exports in production (%) 89 75 65 75 73 75 Share of imports in production (%) 10 5 5 6 7 6 Consumption (thousand t) 4 10 14 11 10 9 EPDM Capacity (thousand t) 24 24 24 24 24 24 Utilisation of plants (%) 23 25 18 29 20 10 Share of exports in production (%) 2 6 7 1 15 4 Share of imports in production (%) 48 59 69 57 69 80 Consumption (thousand t) 10 14 13 16 13 11 TPEs Capacity (thousand t) 35 35 35 35 58 85 Utilisation of plants (%) 74 89 87 93 72 44 Share of exports in production (%) 9 12 15 16 21 47 Share of imports in production (%) 18 18 27 32 39 35 Share of imports in production (%) 29 33 33 37 44 39 T/46 International Polymer Science and Technology, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2016

ISOPRENE RUBBER (IPR) The IPR production plants in Russia belong to PAO Nizhnekamskneftekhim, OOO Tol yattikauchuk, and OAO Sintez-Kauchuk, Sterlitamak. Russia occupies first place worldwide in terms of the volumes of production of polyisoprene rubbers. The consumption of IPR on Russia s internal market amounted in 2014 to 143 thousand t. The demand of the internal market is fully met by Russian producers. Considerable volumes of IPR go for export to tyre companies in different regions of the world. BUTYL RUBBER (BR) The production plants belong to PAO Nizhnehamskneftekhim and OOO Tol yattikauchuk. By comparison with the base tyre rubbers, the level of consumption of BR on Russia s internal market is relatively low the consumption in 2014 amounted to 10 thousand t, and over 95% of the produced BR is supplied for export. The import of regular BR is negligible, and this sector of the market in Russia is practically undeveloped; the lion s share of imports falls to grades of halogenated BR chloro- and bromobutyl rubbers. NITRILE BUTADIENE RUBBER (NBR) The only producer of NBR in Russia is OAO Krasnoyarskii zavod SK (KZSK). The Russian NBR market is very limited the consumption on the internal market in 2014 amounted to 9 thousand t. More than 90% of the demand is met by rubber produced by KZSK. A restricting factor of growth in demand for NBR in Russia is the import from the Asiatic region of considerable volumes of finished mechanical rubber goods at low cost. ETHYLENE PROPYLENE RUBBER (EPDM) The production plants belong to PAO Nizhnekamskneftekhim and OAO Ufaorgsintez. The consumption of EPDM on the internal market in 2014 amounted to 11 thousand t. The volumes of production of EPDM in Russia are insignificant; a large part of the demand is met by imports the volumes do not vary substantially and are of the order of 9 thousand t/year. THERMOPLASTIC ELASTOMERS (TPEs) The only producer of block copolymers of the TPE type in Russia is OAO Voronezhsintezkauchuk. The consumption of TPEs on Russia s internal market amounted in 2014 to 39 thousand t. Roughly two-thirds of the demand of the internal market is met by our own production of thermoplastic elastomers; the remainder consists of imports. The considerable growth in exports in 2014 was due to the introduction into service of a new plant for TPE production at OAO Voronezhsintezkauchuk. The future development of synthetic rubber production will depend entirely on the development of the user sectors. For all types of rubber, excluding TPEs, the main driver is the development of the motor and in particular the tyre industry. In the next 20 years, the growth in the Russian rubber market is predicted to be at the level of growth of the main user industries. It is anticipated that the consumption of synthetic rubber will increase at a rate of the order of 5% per year. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Calculation and analysis were carried out on the basis of data supplied by the Khim-Kur er Information Analytical Agency, the International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers (IISRP), the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), and also Customs statistics. REFERENCES 1. Grishin B.S., Materials of the Rubber Industry: Monograph, Part 1. KGTU, Kazan, 506 pp. (2010). Received 01.06.2015 2016 Smithers Information Ltd. T/47

T/48 International Polymer Science and Technology, Vol. 43, No. 1, 2016