Synthetic Rubber: SBR 1502, SBR 1712 & Polybutadiene

Emulsion SBR 1502 and oil-extended SBR 1712, and high-cis polybutadiene (BR), in bales by the container

Emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber is numbered by the IISRP series, and the number tells the compounder most of what it needs. SBR 1502 is a cold-polymerised, non-oil grade at about 23.5% bound styrene (producer limits typically 22.5% to 24.5%), Mooney viscosity ML1+4 at 100 °C of 46 to 58 (nominal 52), organic acid 4.75% to 7.00%, soap at most 0.50%, volatile matter at most about 0.75% and ash at most about 1.0%, made with a mixed-acid emulsifier and a non-staining stabiliser, so it can go into light-coloured goods. SBR 1712 is the oil-extended tread grade: the same 23.5% styrene polymer carrying 37.5 phr of extender oil at a Mooney of about 49, where tyres sold into the EU need a low-PAH oil such as TDAE to meet the REACH polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon limits for extender oils. SBR 1500 is the staining counterpart of 1502, and 1778 is extended with naphthenic oil for light-coloured goods. The staining versus non-staining antioxidant choice decides whether the rubber can touch a white sidewall, a shoe upper or a coloured mat. Polybutadiene (BR) is sold on cis-1,4 content by catalyst (neodymium or cobalt high-cis grades for tyre sidewalls and treads, lower-cis lithium grades for impact modification) and on Mooney viscosity, per the producer's datasheet. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 4002 total USD 22.1 billion and 7.5 million MT across reporters, 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). For SBR in primary form (HS 4002.19) Korea declared 524,000 MT at an average USD 2,051/MT, China 301,000 MT at USD 1,795, Germany 260,000 MT at USD 2,108, Taiwan 234,000 MT at USD 2,009, Poland 214,000 MT at USD 1,824 and Thailand 118,000 MT at USD 2,347; for polybutadiene (HS 4002.20) Korea declared 322,000 MT at USD 2,050, the USA 248,000 MT at USD 1,900 and China 238,000 MT at USD 1,827.

The buyer is a tyre and retread plant, a footwear and sole compounder, a conveyor belt, hose and V-belt maker, a flooring and mat factory, or an adhesive and sealant plant, and it buys against the datasheet of the grade already approved on its mixing line. Synthetic rubber moves in bales of about 35 kg, wrapped in film and stacked on pallets or in steel or wooden crates to the producer's pack, in 20-ft and 40-ft containers; the price is a delivered container price. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers SBR and BR from producers' distributors and trading houses in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, the USA and Europe, and from trader parcels of prime material, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, against the producer's certificate of analysis naming the producing plant and a certificate of origin. Synthetic rubber is not a relevant commodity under the EU Deforestation Regulation, but forced-labour import rules can reach it through the producing plant, which is why the plant is named on the certificate. Send the grade number you run today, the producer grade name if you have one, the staining or non-staining requirement, the monthly volume and the destination, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.