IRSG: Rubber demand to grow 1.8 per cent in 2015

The Secretariat of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) has published its annual report, which suggests total world rubber demand will increase at 1.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent in 2015 and 2016 respectively. This is below the long-term growth rate of 3.7 per cent under the IMF Scenario (the report refers to three scenarios – IMF, downside and oil price) to 29.1 million tonnes in 2015 and to 30.3 million tonnes in 2016.

World natural rubber (NR) demand is forecast to increase by 3.1 per cent in 2015 under the IMF Scenario and by 4.4 per cent in 2016. The world total NR consumption is expected to be 12.3 million tonnes in 2015, 12.9 million tonnes in 2016 and increasing to 16.5 million tonnes in 2023.

World SR demand is expected to increase to 16.8 million tonnes in 2015 and rise to 17.5 million tonnes in 2016 under the IMF Scenario. In 2023, the demand for SR will by 21.5 million tonnes. According to the IRSG, the outlook for NR supply is positive, with sufficient to meet the demand of the industry for all forecast years under all three scenarios.