Fluctuating market conditions force global rubber producers to adapt

Synthetic rubber producers across the world are confronting rising costs because of changing market dynamics. This volatile environment is forcing shifts in operating strategies and even closures.

A recent development is in Italy where Versalis’ butadiene (BD) feedstock crude C4 supply will be reduced. Its parent company, Eni, plans to “phase out” steam cracking capacity at its Brindisi and Priolo plants. It is also seeking to either bring in a joint venture partner for its French cracker in Dunkirk or sell the facility outright.

The moves are part of a €2bn ($2.16bn), five-year programme to transform its chemical business, Versalis. Eni’s aim is to significantly reduce Versalis' exposure to basic chemicals, “a sector that is facing structural and irreversible decline in Europe.”

No mention of plans for the synthetic rubber business has appeared in recent news, so our assumption is the assets will continue to operate.

Ravenna, Italy, has the vast majority of the Versalis BD derivative consumption including polybutadiene rubber (PBR), emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (eSBR), styrene butadiene latex (SBL) and styrene block copolymer (SBC).

Versalis has had a heavier reliance on the Ravenna output since Grangemouth, UK, production was closed earlier this year. The company cited “worsening conditions of the elastomers market, declining sales, increasing costs, and negative outlook” as reasons for the permanent shutdown in the UK.

Additional factors contributed to Grangemouth’s closure. The idling of two nearby BD producing assets pushed the cost of feedstock sourcing higher. In 2015, Ineos’ neighboring 2mn t/yr petrochemical complex at Grangemouth, which included a 70,000 t/yr BD unit, was permanently closed. Sabic is in the process of decarbonizing the Wilton Teesside, UK, site, which prompted it to shutter its 100,000 t/yr BD unit in 2020. When the UK withdrew from the European Union in early 2020, this added extra trade complications for both importing BD and exporting derivative production for Versalis’ Grangemouth site. Capacity included PBR (105,000 t/yr) and solution styrene butadiene rubber (sSBR) (70,000 t/yr).

In 2023, the rubber producer announced €80mn upgrades to the Ravenna, Italy complex. Versalis also has a derivatives JV with Lotte in Yeosu, South Korea (PBR, sSBR).

The Versalis Priolo site has nameplate capacities of 430,000 t/yr ethylene and 250,000 t/yr of propylene while Brindisi has an ethylene capacity of 410,000 t/yr and propylene capacity of 145,000 t/yr.

Other rubber producers are not immune

Shortly following the news from Eni, Ube Elastomer notified Lotte Ube Synthetic Rubber (LUSR) on 25 October of its intention to dissolve and liquidate in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. The 50:50 PBR joint venture was established in 2012. No closure date was provided.

“Although nine years have passed since LUSR commenced commercial production in 2015, it has not been able to achieve the initially anticipated performance due to market downturns,” the statement said. “Given the expectation that the business environment will remain tough, it has decided to dissolve.”

In 2009, the site in Malaysia was hit by an explosion and fire in 2022. Ube also has PBR production in Nantong, China and Chiba, Japan.

In a similar strategy to Eni, US tire manufacturer Goodyear in late 2023 announced its intention to sell the chemical business to cut costs by $1.3bn. In Texas, Goodyear's Beaumont complex produces PBR, polyisoprene rubber and sSBR. Goodyear manufactures eSBR in Houston, Texas.

Russia’s conflict with the Ukraine began in February 2022. The geopolitical tensions opened up opportunities in eastern and western Europe, since Russia previously exported large quantities of PBR to Europe.

Poland’s Synthos acquired Trinseo’s synthetic rubber assets in 2021. In 2022 Synthos debottlenecked PBR capacity in the Czech Republic. Then in 2023, the eSBR production unit was permanently closed at Kralupy in the Czech Republic, because of "the unsustainable market environment for eSBR due to unpredictable costs." During the same year, PBR production in Schkopau, Germany was restarted. The asset was idled by then owner Trinseo in 2020.

Arlanxeo, a wholly owned subsidiary of state-controlled Saudi Aramco, confirmed recently that it will permanently close its Cabo de Santo Agostinho (Cabo) site in Brazil. The company did not specify a timeline for the plant's shutdown. Cabo produces PBR and sSBR. At the end of 2020, PBR production ceased in Singapore.

By the end of 2022, Arlanxeo reduced its emulsion styrene butadiene rubber (eSBR) production in Triunfo in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, but added a new PBR unit.

Looking ahead, Arlanxeo is constructing a 140,00 t/yr plant to manufacture ultra-high cis PBR and lithium PBR in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

Japan’s Zeon stated in June 2024 it would slash its elastomers capacity in Tokuyama in fiscal year 2026. This includes some eSBR as well as PBR production.

Also, Japanese refiner Eneos acquired JSR's elastomers business in 2022. Prior to the news, JSR’s year-on-year elastomer sales fell by 13pc in the April 2020-March 2021 fiscal year.

There could be additional assets that have idled in Asia-Pacific. However, we are investigating if these are permanent closures or temporary shutdowns.

For a complete list of nameplate capacities, please refer to the Butadiene Analytics service.

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Author: Angie Joe