Rubber: Natural TSR, Latex & SBR

Rubber is two trades that meet in the same mixing room. Natural rubber is a plantation crop, tapped as field latex and sold either as centrifuged latex concentrate at 60% dry rubber content (ISO 2004) or as solid rubber: technically specified block rubber graded on dirt, ash, nitrogen, volatile matter, Po and PRI under ISO 2000 and the national STR, SIR, SMR and SVR schemes, or visually graded ribbed smoked sheet such as RSS 3. Synthetic rubber is a petrochemical made from butadiene and styrene: emulsion SBR 1502 (non-oil, non-staining, about 23.5% bound styrene, Mooney 46 to 58) and oil-extended SBR 1712 for treads, and high-cis polybutadiene for sidewalls and treads. Tyre compounds blend both, so a tyre plant's raw-material buyer typically purchases both natural and synthetic grades. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put natural rubber (HS 4001) at USD 13.1 billion and 6.1 million MT across reporters, led by Thailand (USD 4.99 billion, 2.82 million MT), Indonesia (USD 2.90 billion, 1.62 million MT), Côte d'Ivoire (USD 2.46 billion) and Malaysia (USD 0.98 billion, 0.58 million MT), and synthetic rubber (HS 4002) at USD 22.1 billion and 7.5 million MT, led by Korea (USD 3.15 billion, 1.97 million MT), Thailand (USD 2.90 billion), the USA (USD 2.64 billion), China (USD 2.22 billion) and Japan (USD 2.12 billion).

The buyers are tyre makers and retreaders, footwear and sole compounders, conveyor belt, hose and V-belt plants, moulded-goods and anti-vibration makers, glove, condom, foam and thread plants on latex, and adhesive and sealant compounders. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers solid natural rubber in 33.33 kg or 35 kg bales on shrink-wrapped pallets of 1.20 or 1.26 MT (about 19.2 to 20.16 MT to a 20-ft container), latex concentrate in ISO tanks, flexibags or 205 kg drums, and SBR and BR in bales on pallets or crates, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms against a certificate of analysis per lot, a certificate of origin and, where the destination requires it, a phytosanitary certificate. Natural rubber and latex are relevant commodities under the EU Deforestation Regulation, so EU-bound cargo needs plot geolocation and due-diligence data from the seller before contract; synthetic rubber is outside that regulation but its certificate names the producing plant for forced-labour screening. Send the grade, the standard or scheme you buy to, the monthly volume and the destination, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.