3D Printing to Transform Rubber Product Manufacturing

Industry Outlook Team

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The rubber products manufacturing market is anticipated to reach USD 498.73 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.1 percent, over the forecast period. Major factors driving the growth of this market is the surge in demand for rubber products from manufacturing industries, especially from the industrial machinery and motor vehicle industries. However, factors such as lack of available resources, workforce issues, and increasing inventory levels are anticipated to restrain the rubber products manufacturing market growth.

When it comes to manufacturing rubber products, there are various manufacturing processes. Some of the most common rubber manufacturing processes are extrusion, latex dripping, molding, and calendaring. The major technologies that are expected to have a greater impact on the rubber product manufacturing industry are Computer simulation and 3D printing technology. A larger number of enterprises are adopting 3D technology to design and develop rubber or rubber products as software aided system offers 3D presentations on production line processes, which includes potential fault lines and also offers control on the manufacturing process.

Companies that are into the manufacturing of Rubber products are integrating big data and IoT technologies to implement preventive maintenance techniques. They are collecting, processing, and measuring data to improve process efficiency and productivity. These are done using technologies that include electronic devices, which connect through the internet and display process information on dashboards.

The global rubber products manufacturing market is further classified based on type and geography. Based on the type, this market is classified into tire manufacturing, hoses and belting manufacturing, and other rubber product manufacturing. Based on the region, it is classified into North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Among these regions, Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global rubber products manufacturing market, accounting for 48 percent of the market and North America was the second largest region of 20 percent of the global rubber products manufacturing market.

Ban on the import of natural rubber for a year

In April 2020, the United Planters’ Association of Southern India also known as Upasi has called for a ban on the import of natural rubber for a year. Also, the enhancement of the bound rate of duty from the current level of 25 percent as manufacturing loss mounts in the natural rubber sector.

Upasi in one of the representations to the Rubber board stated that it has estimated a crop loss of 49000 tonnes valued at Rs 610 crore from the last week of March and April. Unfortunately, the absence of rubber trading has affected cash flow and revenue, specifically from the sale of sheets and latex that came to a halt.

Upasi President AL RM Nagappan said, “The import ban should be for one year or till the available domestic stock of 3.10 lakh tonnes is exhausted. Further, the import should be prohibited during the high cropping months of September to February.