CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING
NEWS VOLUME
40,
NUMBER
3
T h e Chemical W o r l d T h i s W e e k
JANUARY
15, 1962
Columbian Carbon Enters Butyl Rubber Field Company will be second U.S. producer in business that promises slow but steady growth After planning and shelving projects several times, Cities Service once again seems headed for the butyl rubber business. Its entrance will come through Columbian Carbon, which plans to build a 35,000 ton-a-year butyl rubber plant at Lake Charles, La. In December, stockholders of Cities Service and Columbian approved a merger between the two firms which will likely be consummated this month. Cities Service's interest in butyl goes back to 1956, when petroleum Chemicals (now owned 5 5 % by Cities Service, 4 5 % by Continental Oil) obtained a butyl license from Esso Research and Engineering. PCI planned to build a 30,000 ton-a-year
plant but dropped the project in 1959. Later Cities Service, Continental, and Thiokol Chemical discussed a facility, but again nothing took shape. About a year ago, the trade was buzzing with reports that Cities Service and Thiokol were considering a joint butyl project (C&EN, Feb. 27, 1961, page 17). Now it's Columbian Carbon's turn. It expects to have its butyl plant in operation in mid-1963. Isobutylene, the prime raw material for butyl rubber (the feed stream contains 97 to 99.5% isobutylene and the balance isoprene), will come from the Cities Service refinery at Lake Charles. Second Producer. Columbian Carbon will become the nation's second
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SB
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butyl producer. Humble Oil & Refining makes the synthetic rubber at Baytown, Tex., and Baton Rouge, La. Humble's total capacity is 154,000 long tons annually. Enjay Chemical, a Humble division, markets the rubber. The Humble plants were purchased from the Government in 1955. Elsewhere in the world, butyl is produced by Polymer Corp. in Canada, SOCABU in France, and in the U.S.S.R. Esso Petroleum, Ltd., will build a plant in England which should be on stream in about a year. Polymer Corp. has plans for a butyl rubber plant in Belgium which should be operating by late next year. Esso Research, research affiliate of Standard Oil (N.J.), holds existing
8S
J A N . 15, 1962 C & E N
25
basic butyl patents. It has licensed all overseas plants (except the Soviet plant). In the U.S. it has licensed B. F. Goodrich and Goodrich-Gulf besides Petroleum Chemicals. Other American firms have shown little interest in producing butyl thus far. More Than Tubes Now. When the U.S. Government sold its butyl plants, roughly 9 3 % of butyl consumption went into inner tubes and pneumatic bags. The market started to decline in 1954 when automobile producers switched to the tubeless tire. In 1955, 46,200 long tons of butyl went into tubes and bags; last year this market took 37,000 long tons. Nevertheless, the butyl tube market has held up rather well. About half of the truck tires produced still use inner tubes, as do most snow and replacement tires. Last year, about 37 million tubes were produced; a modest increase is expected this year. Increased demand is expected for butyl auto tires, which Enjay introduced in 1959. Development of butyl tires cost about $20 million; its keywas a butyl latex which permits the rubber to bond to tire cord. Butyl tires are aimed at the premium tire field. They cost about 20 to 30% more than conventional tires. Firestone, U.S. Rubber, Mansfield, and Goodyear make the tires in the U.S. Butyl tires are claimed to ride more smoothly, not to squeal or screech when turning corners, and to stop faster on wet pavement than most tires do on dry roads. However, there are many reports that the tires wear out faster than other tires. Nonetheless, butyl tires have gained some acceptance. Last year, about 8000 long tons of butyl rubber went into the tires. A 50% increase is possible this year. Each tire contains about 12 pounds of rubber. Butyl tires are now used on automobiles only; they are some time away from making a dent in the truck tire market, may never win a place there. Other Outlets Hopeful. Like other rubbers, butyl finds use in such applications as wire and cable coatings, belts, automotive parts, and medical uses. These uses accounted for about 16,000 long tons in 1961, and consumption c©uld increase about 15% in 1962. Nontire uses for butyl claimed only 7800 tons in 1955. Exports, however, are declining. The peak year was 1960, when 27,400 long tons went overseas. Exports may be down to 20,000 long tons in 1962. 26
C&EN
JAN.
15,
1962
Free World's Butyl Rubber Capacity Should Rise to 304,000 Long Tons Next Year Annual Capacity, Long Tons
United States Humble Oil Baton Rouge, La.° Baytown, Tex. Columbian Carbon Lake Charles, La.&
77,000 77,000 35,000
Canada Polymer Corp. Sarnia, Ont.
35,000
England Esso Petroleum Fawleyc
30,000
France Societe du Caoutchouc Butyl Notre Dame de Gravenchon
20,000
Belgium Polymer Corp. Antwerp'
30,000
Note: The U.S.S.R. has a 25,000 ton-a-year plant at Sterlitanak, Bashkir, which was scheduled to be expanded to 75,000 tons a year, according to a Soviet seven-year plan announced in 1958 a Plant may be partly converted to making ethylene-propylene rubber. & Due on stream in mid1963, c Due on stream in 1962 or 1963.
