The market for conventional and highly reactive polyisobutylene (PIB) demonstrates quite positive and upwards trends, which results in capacity expansion, construction and debottlenecking. For instance, TPC Group, which is one of the largest polyisobutylene producers in the USA (the US is the world’s largest PIB producer), is building a new PIB facility for commissioning in 2017; the company is also debottlenecking the existing capacities. The polyisobutylene market is currently driven by steady demand from such sectors as lubricating additives, construction sealants and elastomer modifiers. PIB application in the lubrication sector is boosted by new technical standards and regulations, which will be implemented in the US in 2017. The construction sector enjoys advanced properties of various PIB grades employed for sealing and adhesive applications. Polyisobutylene use as elastomer modifier is also gaining momentum, for example, in making medical implants. Such diverse, innovative and highly sophisticated application areas make polyisobutylene manufacturers to choose those marketing strategies that are characterized by specialization, customization and fine-tuning of PIB products, which assists in building long-lasting commercial relationships with customers. For instance, BASF supplies a wide range of polyisobutenes with low, medium and high molecular weight under different brands, catering for various consumption segments. Lubrizol pays significant attention to new PIB products with minimal environmental impact for the automotive industry. Previously alluded, TPC Group offers a comprehensive assortment of PIB products of different viscosities and molecular weights. TPC’s polyisobutenes could render improved performance and cost-effectiveness for suppliers of additives and lubricants. Currently, all these companies indicate positive dynamics of the polyisobutylene market, earmarking its robustness and multiple contributing factors, like lower fuel prices and new regulation.
Polyisobutylene: structure of the global production by country (2014)
More trustworthy data on the global polyisobutylne market can be found in the insightful report “Polyisobutylene: 2016 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2020”.