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NBR / nitrile latex
What it is
Acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, a synthetic elastomer with strong resistance to oil, fuel, chemicals and heat - the standard material for automotive seals, hoses, gaskets and O-rings, and in latex form for industrial and examination gloves
India imports the bulk of its speciality elastomer needs; roughly 60% of synthetic rubber requirement is met from imports
Impact on industries
- Structural demand growth from automotive, oil and gas and healthcare, where NBR's oil and temperature resistance has no cheap substitute
- Heavy import dependence exposes converters to 20-25% price swings in speciality rubbers plus currency risk, making cost forecasting genuinely difficult
- Domestic capacity is hard to build - it needs butadiene and acrylonitrile from cracker complexes, high capex and technology transfer, so the gap closes slowly
- DGTR opened an anti-dumping investigation in Oct 2024 into NBR from China, the EU, Korea and Russia, which would protect domestic producers while raising costs for downstream users