Global market for chloroprene rubber is forecast to reach 445.3 thousand metric tons by 2017, driven by increasing demand from end-use industries such as industrial rubber products, adhesives and automobiles. According to “Chloroprene Rubber: A Global Strategic Business Report,” developing markets such as Asia-Pacific and Latin America are slated to display strong preference for chloroprene rubber in varied industrial and automobile components applications. The market faces intense competition from natural rubber and other synthetic rubber alternatives.

Chloroprene rubber is the most prominent material among various grades of rubber. It is extremely versatile and can be treated with organic peroxides. Various characteristic features of chloroprene rubber, such as high elasticity and resistance to solvents, heat, ozone, weather ageing and perspiration, make it second in popularity to synthetic rubber varieties. Chloroprene rubber is widely used as hoses and belts in motor vehicle components, as electric wire, as architectural rubber product, and as general industrial materials.

This grade of rubber had previously been used primarily in electric wire and adhesives, but it is now in demand for a range of applications, including industrial products and automobile components, especially in Asia.

China, Japan and the U.S. are the leading consumers of rubber worldwide. China, in particular, is the epicenter of growth, owing to robust growth in the domestic manufacture of industrial goods and motor vehicles. Countries in eastern and central Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America have emerged as the major hubs for synthetic rubber consumption. Steady economic growth, increasing vehicular production, and rising number of tire plants in Asia and Latin America are promoting higher consumption. The synthetic rubber market continues to dominate global rubber consumption, with general-purpose synthetic elastomers, such as styrene-butadiene rubber, polybutadiene rubber, and polyisoprene rubber, expected to account for a substantial proportion of the demand. The industry maintains economies of scale in the form of specialization, technological factors and cheap labor, among others.

The adhesives end-use market captures the largest share of overall chloroprene rubber demand. However, with respect to fast-track growth potential, the market for industrial rubber products is projected to forge ahead at the strongest CAGR over the period 2009-2017.

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