SIBUR: The Russian tire industry may abandon natural rubber

Currently, all leading tire manufacturers cannot stop using natural rubber, replacing it with synthetic analogs, but, as stated during the Eastern Economic Forum, SIBUR's Board Member Pavel Lyakhovich, the Russian tire industry has such prospects.

Natural rubber is currently supplied primarily from Southeast Asia, where local farmers collect the milk sap of the Brazilian hevea, and this situation creates numerous risks, including diseases of the rubber tree. As a result, tire companies are investing significant funds in searching for a new source of natural rubber (dandelions, guayule, etc.), but SIBUR notes that its replacement is possible, and work is currently underway with tire manufacturers, and this project "is also in the focus of the Ministry of Industry and Trade".

"The successes that exist with some companies in developing these recipes are dictated by the fear of being left without natural rubber," Lyakhovich noted, adding that "the project is currently undergoing testing, and I am confident that gradually we as an industry will be able to abandon natural rubber".

Natural rubber has a number of advantages over synthetic rubber, such as increased strength when stretched, so the global tire industry currently has no opportunity to abandon it, and if SIBUR can fulfill a similar task, it will be a real revolution in the industry.

Photo: rfa.org.