The Secretariat of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) publishes comprehensive data on production, consumption, trade and prices – covering both natural rubber (NR) and synthetic rubber (SR). On a biannual basis the World Rubber Industry Outlook (WRIO) presents the latest long-term forecasts for the next ten years, covering the world economy as well as the vehicle, tyre and rubber sectors.
The December 2019 edition of the World Rubber Industry Outlook (WRIO) is now available. The WRIO comprises two economic scenarios (IMF and Downside).
IRSG estimates, for the year 2019, a decline in the global rubber demand by 1.5% year-on-year up to 28.74 million tonnes. The global rubber demand is forecast to rebound in 2020 (2.6%) driven by a marginal recovery in the tyre sector (1.5%) and a growth in the non-tyre sector (4.3%) before further acceleration in the global demand growth to 2.8% in 2021 under the IMF Scenario.
World NR demand has increased by 4.1% in 2018 to 13.76 million tonnes. Under the IMF Scenario the growth is expected to decline marginally (-0.1%) in 2019, reaching 13.75 million tonnes. A recovery in NR demand (1.9%) is expected in 2020.
World SR demand has increased by 1.5% in 2018 (15.4 million tonnes). Under the IMF scenario its growth is expected to decline by 2.8% in 2019, reaching 14.98 million tonnes. The SR demand is forecast to recover faster (3.4%) than NR demand growth (1.9%) in 2020.
Source IRSG