Isobutylene-Isoprene Rubber (short for IIR) is an important raw material used in tire produce process. However, IIR production developed very slowly in the past decade, as following chart showing:
The chart showed that China’s IIR production kept steady from 2003 to 2012, however, China’s IIR demand tripled during the period. In that case, China’s IIR dependency on import has become deeper and deeper in recent years, ever reaching 250,000 tons/year in 2010 and 2013 respectively.
Although China’s IIR production fluctuated in 2011 and 2013, it is known as the new production released in the years.
Until now, most IIR productions are still depended on import in China, such as halogenated butyl rubber. Even ordinary IIR productions in China are still hard to realize self-supply.
(By Amanda, mol@tireworld.com.cn)
