Rubber sector

The U.S. accounts for almost one-quarter of worldwide slab zinc consumption and is the world s single largest market. About 80% of zinc is used in metal form, and the rest is used in compound form. In total, 90% of zinc metal is used for galvanizing steel (a form of corrosion protection) and for alloys, and is used in a wide variety of materials in the automotive, construction, electrical, and machinery sectors of the economy. Zinc compound use also varies widely, but is mainly found in the agricultural, chemical, paint, pharmaceutical, and rubber sectors of the economy. 

The high growth rates in the past, particularly in the plastics and rubber sectors (see Table 5.8-1), will not continue. After stabilization in 1991, an annual growth rate of ca. 5% is expected in the future. 

In the following tabulation of the a/b ratio for various sectors, the petroleum sector should be spending between 9 and 12 for capital investment per year for every dollar it spends on labor per year. In the rubber sector, the ratio is between 1 and 3, suggesting the need in this sector for a more even distribution of capital and labor. 

The Shore A scale, or as it is sometimes called, durometer hardness, enjoys considerable success in North America and in particular is widely accepted by the automotive industry the scale is an integral part of the classification system for elastomeric materials used in automotive applications (ASTM D2000). Shore hardness has also become the industry standard for the rapidly growing thermoplastic rubber sector, where advantage can be taken of the complementary Shore D scale for harder grades and for rubber-modified plastics. Seven Shore scales are described in ASTM D2240, while Shore A and D hardness are also detailed in the international standard for pocket hardness meters. ISO 7619 (BS903. Part A57). The latter also specifies a pocket meter based on the IRHD scale. 

For the plastic/rubber sector/market, some of the specific descriptors are An example of an SU ... 

Mapping of uses made by associations The DU should find out if the generic conditions of use in the specific sector are already mapped and made available in a structured way by his/her association(s). For the plastics/rubber sector, examples of how such information is normally structured can be found on the websites of the associations (e.g., European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC), see Section 6.2). 

At one time it was widely expected that EPDM rubbers would become of significance in the tyre sector. For a variety of reasons but primarily because of the high cost of the diene monomers this expectation has not been realised. On the other hand these rubbers have become widely accepted as moderately heat-resisting materials with good weathering, oxygen and ozone resistance and they find extensive use in cars, domestic and industrial equipment. 

Semimetal that occurs as a tin-type, brittle form and as a yellow, unstable, nonmetallic form. Its main use is in alloys to harden other metals. Without the addition of antimony, lead would have remained the "softy" of the Periodic Table. But with antimony, lead ruled the print world and later found use in the production of rechargeable batteries. It can be found in older ceramic glazing (yellow orange). Everyday encounters antimony sulfide in match heads and red rubber, antimony oxide is used as a flame retardant. Pure antimony is starting to become of interest in the electronics sector. 

The Climate Change Levy, which takes effect in the UK on 1 st April, 2001, is considered. The Levy was conceived as a measure to encourage industry to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Industry claims that the measure is ill-thought out, unfair and could even be counterproductive. The opposing views are discussed. Data are presented on the effect of the Levy on the costs of the worst-hit sectors, including plastic products, recycling (non-metal), rubber products, automotive, fabricated metal products and aeronautics. 

Many rubber products, when exported to the member states of the European Union, must comply with the requirements of the relevant legislation approach. The EU Directives of New Approach and Directives of Sectoral Approach are legislative provisions that must especially be followed. Directives of New Approach confine the requirements to the protection of health, property and environment and the safety requirements. The Directives of New Approach lay down the uniform procedure of approval of conformity. Harmonised European standards, giving detailed specifications of the product, follow these Directives. Detailed requirements are given in the Directives of Sectoral Approach and they have to be interpreted individually. The essential concepts are explained and a review of the most important documents is presented. 

Figure 18.4. Example of technology analysis, e.g., 5% in rubber and plastic products means that 5% of the investments in a central electrolyser are produced in the rubber and plastic products sector in economic terms.

The Polystyrene Family. After 1945 there was a drastic drop in the demand for styrene monomer because the need for synthetic rubber suddenly declined. On the other hand, a big demand existed for goods in the civilian sector and this provided a strong impetus to the expansion of polystyrene. In many cases, however, the mechanical strength of polystyrene was inadequate and this initiated numerous research efforts, especially in the immediate postwar period. 

The first move in this direction was to improve the weatherability of impact-resistant polystyrene. Because polybutadiene, the most widely used rubber in impact-resistant polystyrene, is unsaturated, it is sensitive to photooxidation, and impact-resistant polystyrene is therefore not suitable for outdoor applications. A saturated rubber might be able to help here. In the ABS sector this has been successfully tried out with acrylate rubber (77) and EPDM (78, 79), and the latter has also been used in impact-resistant polystyrene (80, 81) This development has elicited satisfactory responses only in certain areas and more work still has to be done. For instance, attempts have been made to improve resistance to weathering by using silicone rubber (82 ). This approach is effective, but economic factors still stand in its way. Further impetus may also be expected from stabilizer research. Hindered secondary amines (83), to which considerable attention has recently been paid, are a first step in this direction. 

MPR competes with crosslinked nitrile rubber for demanding applications (in the automotive sector, for example) needing oil and grease resistance, noise dampening, stress relaxation similar to vulcanized rubber, good bonding to PVC, PC, ABS. 

Manufacturing (NAICS 326), Rubber Products (NAICS 3262) totals 35.3 billion, of which Tires (NAICS 32621) makes up 15.4 billion, showing the dominance of the automobile tire market in this sector of the chemical industry. The top polymer production summary in Table 1.16 gives a numerical list of important synthetic elastomers. Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) dominates the list at 1.93 billion lb for U.S. production. All other synthetic elastomers are much smaller. While elastomers had a slight increase in production from 1980-1990, only 0.5% annually, SBR was down 2.3% per year. From 1990-2000 it was up 1.0% per year. The fastest growing elastomer is ethylene-propylene, up 5.2% annually for 1990-2000. Table 18.1 gives a breakdown in percent production of synthetic elastomers and consumption of natural rubber in the U.S. 

Table 9.12 lists the main customers of the three major segments of the CPI. The biggest customers of Industrial Chemicals are other Industrial Chemicals companies, which buy more than 20% of all the products, and the next biggest industrial customer is Plastics, which buy more than 15%. Export is a major source of sales at more than 16%. The various sectors of the CPI, such as Rubber, Soap, and Paper, are among the best customers of Industrial Chemicals. The federal and state governments buy 4.5%, but direct consumption by individuals is minimal at 1.0%. 

U.S. consumption of carbon black in 1988 by various market sectors is shown in Table 6. About 90% of total consumption is in the mbber industry and 69% for tires. About 10% is consumed for other automotive products and 11% for rubber products unrelated to the automotive industry. The automotive industry accounts for 79% of consumption. Pigment applications account for about 10% of consumption, most of this for plastics and printing inks. Western Europe consumes 74% in tires and other automotive products and almost 20% in other industrial mbber products. Pigment applications in Western Europe and Japan are 5—6% of consumption. 

---