Malaysia's Natural Rubber Production May Climb by 6 Percent

Malaysia's natural rubber production may climb by 6 percent in 2011 from last year, rather than by 5.6 percent estimated at the start of the month, according to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries. Output from countries representing 92 percent of global supply might increase to 10.06 million metric tons from 9.5 million metric tons.

Rubber futures have lost 29 percent this year in Tokyo on concern that a slowing U.S. economy and a deepening European debt crisis will reduce demand for the commodity used in tires and gloves. Prices increased 4.6 percent to 295.10 yen per kg recently on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange as European leaders inched toward a strategy to contain the debt crisis.

The impact of the rains and floods in Thailand, the biggest grower, was of “less significance” as supply for natural rubber was mainly concentrated in the south. The country might produce 3.38 million metric tons this year compared with 3.25 million metric tons in 2010. Production in Indonesia was predicted at 2.96 million metric tons versus 2.74 million metric tons, while in Malaysia, output was estimated at 1.02 million metric tons compared with 939,000 metric tons, the group said. Exports might rise 2.6 percent this year to 7.67 million metric tons, less than the 3.1 percent growth estimated until a month ago and versus 10.4 percent in 2010.
While the lower rate mostly reflected weak demand because of the global economic slowdown, floods in Thailand had reportedly disrupted some movements to ports.

Demand from China, India and Malaysia, representing 45 percent of the global total, was likely to grow only 0.7 percent this year compared with a 4.7 percent gain in 2010.(Excerpt from Rubber World News)

EPDM from Bio-based Ethylene

LANXESS recently announced that it plans to commercially produce EPDM from bio-based ethylene by the end of the year. It will be the first form of bio-based EPDM rubber in the world and will be sold under the brand name Keltan Eco.

EPDM is conventionally produced using the petroleum-based raw materials ethylene and propylene. Alternatively, LANXESS plans to use ethylene derived purely from the renewable resource sugar cane. This bio-based form of ethylene is produced by dehydrating ethanol from Brazilian sugar cane. The company Braskem S.A. will supply the bio-based ethylene via pipeline to LANXESS' existing EPDM plant in Triunfo, Brazil.

Silicone Conference - "Silicone Elastomers US 2011"

Leaders from the silicone elastomers industry will gather in Rosemont, IL December 6-7, for Silicone Elastomers US 2011. Speakers from BlueStar Silicones, Momentive Performance Materials and Wacker Chemical are among the key players in the silicones elastomers industry who are scheduled to present at this inaugural event.

Silicone Elastomers US 2011 is presented by iSmithers, which has held similar conferences in Europe for the past four years. This is the first time iSmithers will hold a silicone elastomers event in North America. Scheduled presentations include Elastomer Quality and Purity, Innovation in Fluorosilicone for Automotive Applications, Peroxide Curing of Silicone Elastomers, New Developments in LSR Molding and Silicone Elastomers for Medical Use: A Practical Guide to Compliance.

Speakers scheduled to present include Martin Neff, manager Midwest Sales & Engineering, Arburg Inc., Mark Neuber, commercial director and business director, Core Fluids & Elastomers, BlueStar Silicones; Paul Tuckner, president, Grace Technology and Development; Charles Olsen, Jr., general manager, KCC America; Chris Claussen, marketing manager, Momentive Performance Materials; Rick Ziebell, technical manager, R.D. Abbott; and Scott Richardson, technical marketing manager, Wacker Chemical.

Blending NR latex with SBR

Manufacturer:  We are manufacturing dipped transparent Natural Latex products. We would like to reduce the product cost by blending with synthetic lattices. We tried using XSBR but  did not get transparency and the product was very weak in strength. Can you suggest any idea to reduce the cost of product by maintaining the transparency and if the strength is reduced marginally then there is no problem. (John Woon's note: Other details not revealed here)


John Woon (Senior Latex Consultant): The physical properties of SBR (Styrene butadiene copolymer) changes progressively from polybutadiene which is flexible and rubbery to polystyrene which is rigid and glassy. I suggest you try those grades with styrene content of 45% and lower. A suitable grade could a high solid (~62%) SBR used for latex foam manufacturing, not XSBR which is carboxylated.

Generally, once you blend NR with SBR you'd get lower tensile strength. Your total rubber content in your latex compound formulation should not change, otherwise you've to adjust the sulphur and accelerator content accordingly.

For maximum transparency, you should select a grade of SBR with a refractive index close to that of NR, i.e. 1.519.

The accelerator you use is not ideal for transparency. You should choose one that's more soluble in rubber and has minimal tendency to bloom.