Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, new vehicle registrations and sales during January–March 2021 reached 18,788,699 units, surpassing the 2020 number, as per Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA). This has perhaps been due to the lifting of the lockdowns in most of the countries, resumption of manufacturing operations, and recovery in people’s financial health. Even before the pandemic, automotive sales increased steadily, especially between 2009 and 2019, due to a rise in people’s disposable income.
As a result of the resumption of manufacturing and sales, P&S Intelligence expects the synthetic rubber market value to increase massively from $31.0 billion in 2020 during 2021–2030. This is because a large amount of the rubber produced goes into the production of automotive tires, the sales of which are surging with the rising demand for automobiles. Tires are among the most-essential components of a vehicle as they allow the latter to move on the road. With time, tires wear down, which creates the requirement for replacements.
Moreover, with continuous advancements in the materials and production methods, vehicles are becoming more durable. As per the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average vehicle age in the U.S. has consistently increased from 8.4 years in 1995 to 11.9 years in 2020. As the tire replacement rate is already higher than the vehicle replacement rate, the increasing operational life of the latter is propelling the demand for the replacement of the former. Additionally, new variants of automotive tires, such as ultra-high-performance and all-weather tires, are being launched.
Moreover, owing to all these reasons, the synthetic rubber market has been dominated by Asia-Pacific (APAC) till now. The region is home to the largest automotive and building and construction sectors, which has been creating a huge demand for rubber. Additionally, APAC is a haven for manufacturers, who are shifting their plants from Europe and North America to China, India, Vietnam, and other regional nations. Further, the growing healthcare sector here is propelling the demand for rubber products and, in turn, of rubber itself.
Thus, with widening applications, the consumption of synthetic rubber will keep increasing.
