Promising trends in production of elastomeric materials

25 / 04 / 2023
 

Tires & Rubber 2023 hosts the 11th Russian Conference with international participants Rubber 2023: Traditions and Innovations. It is organised by EXPOCENTRE AO and the Elastomers Association.

Professionals of the elastomer industry exchanged information, summarised the results and familiarised themselves with the latest technologies developed by Russian scientific institutes and enterprises.

Opening the event, Sergey Reznichenko, MIREA – Russian Technological University, Chairman of the Conference Organising Committee, noted that more than 170 delegates had registered for the conference, including representatives of industrial science, universities, academies, industrial enterprises and businesses. He drew attention to the fact that the topics of the presentations were devoted to the current vision of what needs to be done in order for our country to have a decent position in the current situation.

According to the speakers, there are experienced academics and young people among the conference participants. This gives hope that, under the current sanctions, it is possible to create new products, technologies, increase the country's technological independence, and make our economy more sustainable.

Ildus Nasyrov, Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant, presented an analytical review of synthetic rubber production development in Russia in 2022. The report showed some trends and plans for the development of synthetic rubber in our country, as well as global indicators and development trends. According to the cited data, 2021 saw the maximum production of synthetic rubber in the last 30 years in the Russian Federation, which amounted to 1,486,000 tonnes of rubber. In 2022 the production of synthetic rubber decreased to 1,292,000 tonnes, i.e., by 13%. There has been a major change in the main consumers of rubber. Foreign tire companies have ceased operations, and the owners of Russian companies have also changed. So far, production has not been fully restored.

Summing up, the expert noted that domestic supply of synthetic rubber by Russian manufacturers reached 486,000 tonnes in 2022. Consumption was roughly maintained at the level of 2021. Imports of elastomers were 691,000 tonnes, i.e., up 30% compared to 2020. The total volume with carryover stocks increased by a further 8% in 2022.

The conference’s sessions were devoted to synthetic rubber as the basis of national independence, creation of the centre of competence in the field of tire and rubber goods production, current state and prospects of rubber goods production in Russia, main trends in the field of elastomer materials, influence of substrate nature on the surface energy characteristics of elastomer materials, reduction of critical dependency in special purpose rubbers, problems of physics and mechanics of elastomer composites at the present stage, and others.

The conference plenary and sessions were attended by representatives of the sponsoring companies and other leading companies and universities such as Sibur, Research Institute or Rubber and Polymer Products, Research Institute of Elastomer Materials and Products, Belarusian State Technological University, Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, Volgograd State Technical University, Veskom, Institute of Natural Sciences of North-Eastern Federal University, EcoTyresUnion, etc.

The first day of the conference concluded with a panel discussion on the supply of raw and other materials for the Russian tire and rubber industry.

The Rubber 2023: Traditions and Innovations Conference will work on 25–26 April.

Press Service, EXPOCENTRE AO


Share: