Global butadiene market forecast to cross 13 million tons by 2020

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The global butadiene market is forecast to cross 13 million metric tons in volume terms by 2020, on account of rising investments and expanding synthetic rubber manufacturing sector, as per TechSci Research report . In addition, growing automotive industry, especially in Asia-Pacific, is projected to drive the market for butadiene over the next five years. SBR and PBR are two prime derivatives that accounted for a lion’s share of the total butadiene consumption in 2014.
Butadiene, an organic compound, is obtained as a by-product during the production of ethylene and propylene. Conventionally, butadiene was produced through steam cracking of naphtha followed by extractive distillation. Dehydrogenation of butane or ethanol is also one of the processes used for producing butadiene. On account of high cost involved in producing butadiene by conventional methods and recent discoveries shale gas, especially in the United States, producers are shifting to using lighter feedstock, such as ethane and propane, for producing butadiene.
Synthetic rubber industry is the largest consumer of butadiene, wherein it is processed for producing derivatives such as Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR), Polybutadiene Rubber (PBR), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Resins (ABS), Styrene Butadiene Latex (SB Latex), Adiponitrile, and Nitrile Rubber (NR). These derivatives are majorly used across automotive sector for manufacturing tyres and other components. Few of the major global players involved in butadiene production include Lyondel Basell, Royal Dutch Shell, TPC Group, BASF and Braskem
The report reveals that majority chunk of butadiene is processed for manufacturing derivatives that are categorized as synthetic rubber. Wherein, PBR and SBR dominate the quantity of butadiene processed and they are followed by ABS Resins, SB latex and Adiponitrile. Further they are used primarily for manufacturing tire and automotive components followed by carpets, paper coats, etc. The recovery of the automobile sector is expected to create higher demand for tyres which is expected to drive the synthetic rubber, and consequently, butadiene market through 2020. Along with increasing stringency of legislations to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles and improving the performance of tires, the automotive industry is graduating from SBR to PBR.
“Developing economies in Asia-Pacific are expected to witness increasing production across various downstream sectors, owing to which, the region would continue to dominate the global butadiene market through 2020. Asia-Pacific is followed by North America, wherein US is the major contributor, followed by Canada and Mexico. Due to the increasing availability of ethane in the US, the percentage yield of butadiene is getting hampered. Hence, the butadiene derivative producers are increasingly relying on butadiene imports from Europe and Asia-Pacific, a trend that is expected to continue through 2020.” said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research.