Synthetic Rubber Consumption Sees Faster Growth than Natural Rubber
Chennai: Synthetic rubber consumption is growing faster than natural rubber as the price differential between the two has widened in the past few months and the commercial vehicles sales are moving slower.
As per the data of the Rubber Board, natural rubber consumption between April and August this year declined marginally by 1 per cent while the consumption by the auto tyre manufacturers saw a meagre growth of 2 per cent.
During the same period, synthetic rubber consumption went up by 11.5 per cent and that by auto tyre manufacturers was up by 13.5 per cent.
While the natural rubber prices have been going up in the first half of the year, prices of crude oil, which is the main raw material for synthetic rubber, has remained subdued. Natural rubber prices which stood at Rs 182.29 per kg in April were higher by Rs 9 against synthetic rubber priced Rs 173 per kg. This difference widened to Rs 38 per kg by September when natural rubber was priced Rs 229.28 per kg and synthetic rubber Rs 191 per kg.
“This price differential could have improved consumption among non-tyre rubber products manufacturers. In the case of tyre manufacturers, the ratio between synthetic and natural rubber can only be tweaked within a range,” said Rajiv Budhiraja, Director-General of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association.
According to him, the slower sales of commercial vehicles and tractors in comparison with passenger cars and two-wheelers could have led to increased consumption of synthetic rubber. The replacement market of tyres too showed a similar trend.
Commercial vehicle sales were down by 4.3 per cent between April and September 2024. In the case of truck and bus tyres, natural rubber is used in a higher share of 85 per cent against 15 per cent synthetic rubber. For tractors, natural rubber is 67 per cent against 33 per cent synthetic rubber.
However, for passenger cars, natural rubber accounts for 55 per cent against 45 per cent synthetic rubber and for scooter tyres, natural rubber used is just 30 per cent against 70 per cent synthetic rubber.
