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National Rubber and Synthetic Rubber: key raw materials
Natural Rubber (NR) production
Natural Rubber is cultivated over a long gestation period of about 6-7 years and is highly labour intensive. It is mainly produced by small farmers in the developing countries of Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, …), Africa (Liberia, Cameroon, Nigeria, …) and Latin America (Brazil, Guatemala, …). In most cases, this is cultivated on less than 4ha of land.
The statistics indicates that tyre production use almost 9million tons of NR annually, which represents 71% of the total NR use. It is foreseen that by 2035 global rubber consumption could increase by 80% vs 2005, while the NR demand is expected to simply double.
NR Production in 2007, 000 tons
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Thailand
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3 056
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Indonesia
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2 797
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Malaysia
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1 200
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India
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806
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China
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600
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Liberia
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114
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Brazil
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107
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Guatemala
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78
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Cameroon
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61
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Nigeria
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46
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Sources: IRSG
NR & SR consumption
In 2007, EU25 transformed around 4 millions tons of rubber: 35 % of NR and 65 % of SR.
Consumption of natural and synthtetic rubbers in EU Member States in 2007, in ‘000 tonnes
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Natural Rubber
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Synthetic Rubbers
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Austria
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34
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17
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Belgium/Luxembourg
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65
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107
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Czech Republic
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68
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138
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Finland
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43
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25
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France
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220
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316
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Germany
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283
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710
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Italy
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146
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255
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Poland
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84
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190
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Portugal
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31
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51
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Slovakia
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47
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66
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Slovenia
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19
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46
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Spain
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195
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260
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Sweden
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7
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80
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The NL
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19
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106
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UK
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91
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168
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Sources: IRSG
The Franco-German rubber consumption represents more than 39 % of the EU consumption of rubber.
EU NR & SR consumption on the global market
The EU consumption share represents 14% of the global NR consumption.
The EU consumption share represents 20% of the global SR consumption.
Update, 24 July 2008
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