Rubber price increases as improved car sales raise tire demand

Thursday, November 5, 2009

According to an article in bloomberg.com by Aya Takada, "Rubber increased for the first time this week as improved car sales in the U.S. boosted speculation that demand will grow for the commodity used in tires. Futures in Tokyo soared as much as 3.2 percent, the largest increase since October 30. U.S. October auto sales improved from a 23 percent slide the previous month, with the seasonally adjusted annual rate exceeding a pace of 10 million for the first time without the benefit of federal rebates, research company Autodata Corp. said yesterday [November 3]. “The market is factoring in a recovery in auto sales,” Takaki Shigemoto, a commodity analyst at research and investment company JSC Corp., said today [November 4] by phone. “Consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars may push up sales further.”

Celanese announces emulsions expansion in China

Dallas, TX -- Celanese Corp., a leading, global chemical company, Monday announced it is expanding its vinyl acetate/ethylene (VAE) manufacturing facility at its Nanjing, China, integrated chemical complex. The investment will support continued growth plans for the Celanese Emulsion Polymers business throughout Asia, including China, India and Southeast Asia and Australia. The expanded facility will double the company’s VAE capacity in the region and is expected to be operational the first half of 2011.

Rubber prices set to rise this week

According to an article in btimes.lcom.my on Ocober 24, "Malaysian rubber prices are set to rise further next week, with SMR 20 expected to hit 800 sen a kg, a dealer said. The market, he said, will see more foreign demand coming in, as the tight supply scenario in major producer countries has prompted traders to stock up.

"We saw continuous interest. We have received a few enquiries including from China, South Africa, Pakistan and South Korea," he said, adding that prolonged rains had led to lower production. During the week just ended, local rubber prices traded higher, extending the uptrend for five straight days on speculative buying.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board official physical noon price for tire-grade SMR 20 rose 19 sen to 787 sen a kg from 768 sen last week and latex in bulk added 10.5 sen to 502.5 sen a kg from 493 sen previously. The unofficial closing price for tire-grade SMR 20 increased 20 sen to 787 sen a kg from 767 last Friday and latex in bulk appreciated 19.5 sen to 502.5 sen per kg from 493 sen last week."

ASTM Committee D11 Has Developed a New Standard for Measuring Chemical Allergens in Medical Gloves

It has been known for some years that residual accelerators used as part of the curative system in medical gloves could be a leading cause of allergic contact dermatitis in health care workers and other users.

A new ASTM International standard has been developed to allow rubber glove manufacturers to monitor the level of residual accelerators in their end products so that they could make manufacturing changes to reduce the allergen levels.

The new standard, D7558, Test Method for Colorimetric/Spectrophotometric Procedure to Quantify Extractable Chemical Dialkyldithiocarbamate, Thiuram and Mercaptobenzothiazole Accelerators in Natural Rubber Latex and Nitrile Gloves, was developed by Subcommittee D11.40 on Consumer Rubber Products, part of ASTM International Committee D11 on Rubber. Not only would D7558 be useful to medical glove manufacturers, but also to dermatologists and many end users of medical gloves.

Viscometers for Latex Compounds

Manufacturer: Under what circumstances do we use Brookfield Viscomter and Ford Cup for measuring the viscosities of our latex compounds?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Generally the rotational viscometers such as Brookfield Viscometer is used to determine the apparent viscosity of non-Newtonian fluid that has shear thinning and thixotropic properties (See ASTM D 2196).

On the other hand, if your latex compound is Newtonian or near-Newtonian especially when it is considerably diluted with water, you could use Ford Cup which is simpler (See ASTM D 1200).

For both methods, temperature of the sample during test must be recorded as this could affect the viscosity.

Natural Rubber Latex for Reconstituted Leather

Manufacturer: We are looking into the possibility of making the so-called reconstituted leather using waste leather scrap. Can you advise us what the process entails and the choice of the binding agent?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Briefly the process used involves precipitation (coagulatiuon) of diluted natural rubber latex in the "leather slurry" using aluminium sulphate as the coagulant. The slurry is then filtered, pressed and dried.

I found the evaporated latex concentrate to be superior to the normal centrifuged latex concentrate because the former has a wider range of rubber particle size i.e. there are more smaller rubber particles and hence bigger particle surface area in the evaporated latex. There is only one manufacturer for such latex in the world, namely, Revertex Malaysia.You can contact them by clicking the following link:
http://www.revertex.com.my/. I'm sure they would be more than pleased to tell you more about the process of making reconstituted leather.

Incidentally, reconstituted leather has been used for shoe insoles, heel lifts amd also as stiffeners for heels and toes.

You are at the site for answers and solutions to all your problems in natural rubber latex processing and manufacturing of industrial, household and medical gloves, condoms, catheters, baby teats and baby pacifiers, toy balloons, latex foam products, latex threads etc.

The Chemical Professional’s Code of Conduct (ACS)

Chemical Professionals Acknowledge Their Responsibilities

To the Public

Chemical professionals have a responsibility to serve the public interest and safety and to further advance the knowledge of science. They should actively be concerned with the health and safety of co-workers, consumers and the community. Public comments on scientific matters should be made with care and accuracy, without unsubstantiated, exaggerated, or premature statements.

To the Science of Chemistry

Chemical professionals should seek to advance chemical science, understand the limitations of their knowledge, and respect the truth. They should ensure that their scientific contributions, and those of their collaborators, are thorough, accurate, and unbiased in design, implementation, and presentation.

To the Profession

Chemical professionals should strive to remain current with developments in their field, share ideas and information, keep accurate and complete laboratory records, maintain integrity in all conduct and publications, and give due credit to the contributions of others. Conflicts of interest and scientific misconduct, such as fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism, are incompatible with this Code.

To Their Employer

Chemical professionals should promote and protect the legitimate interests of their employers, perform work honestly and competently, fulfill obligations, and safeguard proprietary and confidential business information.

To Their Employees

Chemical professionals, as employers, should treat subordinates with respect for their professionalism and concern for their well-being, without bias. Employers should provide them with a safe, congenial working environment, fair compensation, opportunities for advancement, and proper acknowledgment of their scientific contributions.

To Students

Chemical professionals should regard the tutelage of students as a trust conferred by society for the promotion of the students’ learning and professional development. Each student should be treated fairly, respectfully, and without exploitation.

To Associates

Chemical professionals should treat associates with respect, regardless of the level of their formal education, encourage them, learn with them, share ideas honestly, and give credit for their contributions.

To Their Clients

Chemical professionals should serve clients faithfully and incorruptibly, respect confidentiality, advise honestly, and charge fairly.

To the Environment

Chemical professionals should strive to understand and anticipate the environmental consequences of their work. They have a responsibility to minimize pollution and to protect the environment.

Natural Colloids for Latex Thickening

Manufacturer: We have been using celluloses and polyacrylates as latex thickeners for years but due to pressure from our customers, we are now looking for natural colloids for thickening our latex compounds. Can you please suggest some that we could try?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Natural colloids are available in a number of forms but there are basically three main ones that have so far been found to be of significant importance in latex technology. These are casein, starch and aliginates.

Casein which is derived from cow's milk could be dissolved in alkai such as ammonia or potassium hydroxide. Water soluble borax-modified casein is also available. Starch must be used with care because it might reduce the latex stability. Alginates are usually used as their alkali metal salts.

Needless to say, unlike celluloses and polyacrylates, all these natural materials are more prone to bacteriological attack and hence bacteriacides must be used to maintain the shelf life of both the colloids (solution) and your latex compounds otherwise it might lead to degradation, putrfaction and foul odours very often accompanied by a drop in latex stability.

Please be forwarned that some consumers are unduly concerned over the use of casein due to the mad cow disease (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

You are at the site for answers and solutions to all your problems in natural rubber latex processing and manufacturing of industrial, household and medical gloves, condoms, catheters, baby teats and baby pacifiers, toy balloons, latex foam products, latex threads etc.

Nanoparticles could pose threat to humans: scientists

VIENNA (AFP) - – They can make fabric resistant to stains, improve the taste of food and help drug research, but nanoparticles could also pose a danger to human health, experts warned.

Susanne Stark, of the Consumer Information Association, told a seminar in the Austrian city of Salzburg that companies should be forced to indicate on labels whether a product contains the tiny particles.

"There are more questions than answers on the effects of nanoparticles" on human health, the chemist said.

Cosmetic and food products should indicate whether their products contain nanoparticles by 2012, she said.

Nanoparticles, measuring no more than 100 nanometres (0.00001 centimetre), have helped to revolutionise how everyday products are made.

The particles are used to make stain-resistant paint or creamy cosmetic and food products. They can also change colour to indicate whether a product has expired.

But their risk to humans remains largely unknown.

Nanoparticles can enter the body through the mouth and nose, the digestive system or the skin, and spread inside the body through blood vessels, said Hans Peter Hutter, a doctor specialised in environmental hygiene in Vienna.

"These tiny particles could without a doubt go all the way to the placenta," he said. But he warned that little was known about their behaviour inside human tissue.

PolymerLatex Increasing Prices for NBR Latices

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Germany -- PolymerLatex is increasing prices for its range of NBR latices worldwide by 16 percent, effective from October 1, 2009. The company said the increase of 16 percent is in addition to any previously announced increase. This action is necessitated by the continued escalation in the costs of key raw materials and the continued pressure on margins experienced in the past months.

How To Handle Natural Rubber Latex With Low Stability?

Manufacturer: I am an Engineer in latex dipping goods manufacturer. We have some problem in our latex processing especially at fall of leaf climate (July - Sept). We found that latex during this period tend to get skinning faster than usual in production line affecting our product quality. We have already tried to add more stabilizer but it did not work. Please your advise us, Mr. John.

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Looking at the latex specification you sent me, the quality of the latex left a lot to be desired. No wonder you're facing the problem you described. There at least 3 parameters you need to discuss with your latex suppliers. For example, they have to improve the MST of the latex at their end before delivering to you. I would normally reject latex with such specification.

I need to further discuss with you in more details regarding what your latex producer/supplier needs to do.

During compounding and dipping the pH of the latex should be maintained at around 10.0 with the right choice of alkali while maintaining the latex temperature at below 30°C. However these might still not work if the in-coming latex is of low quality.

New Graphene Nano-fillers for Conductive Applications

Graphene - a nanomaterial derived from graphite - has outstanding thermal and electrical conductivity, combined with other properties like strength and barrier, which make it an exciting new material in development for conductive applications. Graphene is a one-atom thick sheet of carbon, first isolated from graphite in 2004 by researchers at the University of Manchester. Academic and industrial researchers around the world are studying graphene and looking for ways to apply its unique properties, and more companies are beginning to manufacture graphene materials.

Manufacturers such as Vorbeck Materials Corp.,XG Sciences Inc.and Graphene Industries Ltd. use different proprietary processes, and properties of the resulting graphene materials depend on variables like degree of oxidation.

In general, graphene's carbon-network composition makes it highly conductive and its two-dimensional geometry gives it a high surface area (between 700 and 1700 m2/g for Vor-x™ compared to 200 to 500 m2/g for CNTs, for example). In composites, this high surface area allows graphene to improve properties like conductivity, barrier, and strength and to reduce a polymer's coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) at low weight loadings.

Brookfield Offers Two Courses on Viscosity Measurement for Latex

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Middleboro, MA - Brookfield, the world standard for viscosity measurement and control, offers two courses that provide users of Brookfield instrumentation with the hands-on knowledge to get the most out of their viscosity test methods.

These day-long training sessions are presented in easy-to-understand terms that give attendees the working know-how to verify and improve upon the data required for meaningful research and development and successful quality control testing. These courses are offered at Brookfield’s facility in Middleboro, MA, and at major metropolitan areas across the U.S.

The company said arrangements can also be made to conduct the course at customers’ facilities where content can be adapted to their specific product applications. The two courses offered are: Practical Course on Viscosity Measurements and Applied Course on Viscosity Test Methods. Visit www.brookfieldengineering.com/services/educational-programs today or call 800.628.8139 or 508.946.6200 for course information and registration.

Hartalega Continues to Grow

One of the world's largest manufacturers of Nitrile medical gloves, Hartalega Holdings Bhd is spending US$40 million over the next two years in their production expansion programme to meet the strong demand for their gloves especially from the European markets.

Hartalega, which makes gloves predominantly for the healthcare industry, currently has four plants with a combined total of 33 production lines. A fifth factory is now under construction to accommodate 12 new high-capacity dipping lines.

Click HERE to read the whole article

Poor Water Resistance of Latex Products

Manufacturer: Some of our customers are complaining that our latex products have poor resistance to water. How could we improve this?

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): Rubber products made from natural rubber or synthetic rubbers are generally considered to be water resistant because of their water repelling properties especially when compared to textile materials, paper, wood and leather.

However, you must take note that all rubber products do absorb water to a certain extent. If your customers are comparing your products with your competitors' products which are made from the same rubber, you need to look at your latex formulation and the manufacturing process to minimise the levels of all water soluble hydrophilic materials. Examples are coagulant, wetting agents, fatty acid soaps, KOH and other naturally occurring water soluble non-rubbers.

I suggest you look into improving your leaching process. if you are using potassium soaps as latex stabilisers you might want to change this to ammonium soaps as thses would revert to fatty acids on drying making the rubber less water sensitive.

In order to measure the sensitivity of your product, you could immerse cut pieces of known surface areas in water at both ambient and elevated temperatures and measure the water absorbed in terms of weight per unit surface area after a given period of immersion. You could also measure the physical properties before and after water immersion.

Vietnam's rubber industry to work with regional growers to boost exports

Vietnam -- According to an article in thanhniennews.com, "The Vietnam Rubber Association plans to share information with its counterparts in China’s main rubber suppliers to prevent over-supplies and close price gaps between the exporters.

The agreement with Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia will facilitate the exchange of information on output, demand and prices, said Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, the association’s general secretary. Vietnam’s rubber exports to China are currently cheaper than those from the three countries. While Vietnam exports rubber latex to 61 countries and territories, including the European Union and Japan, China is the main consumer of Vietnamese rubber, importing nearly 70 percent of the country’s total export volume, according to Hoa.

Of the country’s 208 rubber exporters, 165 companies trade with China, Hoa said, adding that 59 percent of Vietnam’s rubber exports to China are delivered under DAF (Delivered at Frontier) terms. The remaining volume is exported by sea or train. She said the cooperation between Vietnam and the three other rubber suppliers would support Vietnamese rubber exporters, which have been hit hard by Chinese trade barriers since March this year."

Information about Natural Rubber Latex, Glove Processing and Latex Allergens

Students: We are a group of university students and would like to know more about natural rubber latex, glove processing and latex allergens. We would appreciate any information from you.

John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): This would entails too much of my time. I suggest you check out this website => http://bit.ly/1arR0o

The American Dental Association's 2009 Annual Session and World Marketplace Exhibition

2009 Annual Session Overview

The American Dental Association (ADA) invites you to attend the 150th ADA Annual Session and World Marketplace Exhibition. The ADA Annual Session is an unsurpassed opportunity for continuing education, networking and up-to-the-minute learning.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

Lanxess develops new additive for rubber

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess AG has announced the development of a polymer additive for plastics and rubber that is now available for industrial application. These microgels, which consist of nanoscale organic particles, can be used to improve the material properties of elastomer and thermoplastic materials, said Lanxess.

In the course of the product's many years of development, the Lanxess Technical Rubber Products and Rhein Chemie business units have worked together closely and applied for numerous patents. These cover the processing method, the use of nanoparticles in rubber mixtures and the impact on thermoplastic and thermoset polymers.

The Technical Rubber Products business unit markets these nanoscale particles under the registered trademark Nanoprene, while Rhein Chemie Rheinau GmbH sells the additive under the brand name Micromorph. After close co-operation between Rhein Chemie company and the Japanese tire manufacturer Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd., the first major series application of the rubber additive is in the production of winter tires. These tires boast excellent dry and wet road grip, without the tire rubber hardening on contact with snow or ice.