Styrene-butadiene rubber

The main synthetic rubber in passenger car tyres, made from butadiene and styrene; solution grades for low-rolling-resistance tyres are growing while emulsion grades stagnate.

Pseudo-commodities · Rubbers & elastomers · No. 57

• Single chemical
• Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
• about 5.5 Mt a year (2024, indicative, basis: butadiene tile's 30% SBR share of about 15 Mt butadiene at about 0.76 t butadiene per t SBR, rounded down for SB latex overlap)
• 3.0 t CO₂e per t
• HS 400219

A car tyre's grip starts with a synthetic rubber made from roughly three parts butadiene to one part styrene.

Chart: Illustration: Styrene-butadiene rubber

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Butadiene and styrene are polymerised either in a cold water emulsion at about 5 C, the cheap workhorse, or in solvent with a lithium catalyst for tunable tyre grades.

Three things to know

1. About 70% of SBR goes into tyres, so it rises and falls with car and replacement tyre sales.
2. Solution SBR with silica cuts rolling resistance, which EU tyre labels reward, while cheaper emulsion SBR stagnates.
3. In March 2026 DGTR recommended anti-dumping duties on emulsion SBR, up to $319 a tonne on Russian supply.

The journey

1. 1 Monomers0.76 t butadiene, 0.24 t styrene
2. 2 PolymerisationCold emulsion at 5 C, or solution
3. 3 Oil extension1700 grades carry 37.5 parts oil
4. 4 BalingPressed into 35 kg bales
5. 5 TyresMixed with carbon black or silica

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