Emulsion Styrene Butadiene Rubber (ESBR), as a kind of polymer from elastomers family, is produced in three general steps including preparation of chemical materials, reaction of polymerization, packing and storing. ESBR is extensively used in tire and rubber manufacturing. Because of the compatibility of this product with the environment, it is applied to produce green tires. ESBR is the most widely used rubber in the world representing about 40% of the synthetic rubber market.
The establishment of Sadaf Chemical Company in Iran, as a first producer of ESBR in the Middle East, with the ownership of Iranian Investment Petrochemical Group Company, has started on 13th September 2015. The progress of this project had been 50% until the end of December 2016 and it is planned to be completed in coming year.
More required equipment of this plan is Iranian made. Although some imported equipment has higher technologies along with lower risks and therefore this company have no choice rather than using them. Forasmuch as change in ESBR production’s technology has been happened since 2006, Sadaf uses one of the highest technologies which is provided by VERSALTS (an Italian company).
The annual target for Sadaf’s products is about 136,000 Tons in 5 different grades which are classified into oily and dry types of ESBR rubbers with 78,000 and 58,000 Tons capacity respectively. In order to produce the mentioned volumes, Sadaf will provide the feedstocks from Jam and Pars petrochemical companies including 84,000 Tons butadiene, 27,000 Tons styrene and 25,000 Tons aromatic oil annually.
Due to the anticipation of 6.1% global demand’s growth of ESBR until 2020, it is expected that it would be global excess demand in the future. Because of this prospect, Sadaf Company is going to increase the capacity of ESBR in next few years.
The company prefers to sell its products in domestic market but because of the low elasticity of downstream industries, Sadaf will need to export about 50,000 Tons per year to India, China and Turkey. It should be noted that the main applicants of ESBR are the countries from the Southeast Asia and Far East. China, as a biggest consumer of this product, consumes 1.5 million tons ESBR yearly. Therefore, this country has a pivotal role in the foresaid industry.
To conclude, nowadays environmental protection is one of the most important issues. So, some products which are environment-friendly like ESBR are known as strategic products. Sadaf Company as the first producer of ESBR in the region, by using the up to date technologies and observing International environmental standards, will decompose the Nitrosamine as a material which can cause air pollution. Thus, this company will be able to export ESBR to European countries and achieve about 400 Dollars profit per Ton. The mentioned project needs 255 million Euros. But only around 102 million Euros of it provided from the National Development Fund (NDFI). NDFI allocates a portion of revenue earned from oil, gas, gas condensate and oil products to invest in country productivity, overseas investments, and create economic incentives for private economy development. The NDFI also aims to preserve the share of oil and gas resources and products for future generations. The rest of the required investments should be provided by this company. On the other hand, due to the Sadaf company’s advantages, it can be attractive for investors. If current financing issue eases, Sadaf company will start to operate sooner than the scheduled.
