NBR: Domestic Market Occupied by Imports
                    By Zhang Xiaohong
Nitrile-butadiene rubber(NBR)   is  a  polymeric  elastomer
produced by emulsion  polymerization  of  butadiene    and
acrylonitrile.   It  has  excellent  oil resistance and is
therefore mainly used to produce rubber  hoses,     rubber
belts, rubber  rolls,   rubber  bladders,   sealing  parts
,   gaskets  and diaphragms in automobile production,   oil
recovery and refining,  aviation,  spaceflight,   textiles
and printing.
China started NBR production in  1962  and  already  has  a
history of 36 years. The capacity of NBR will reach 30 000
t/a at the end  of  the  Ninth  Five-year Plan period.
1. Production and construction
Domestic NBR producers include Synthetic Rubber Factory  of
Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Corporation with a 4  000  t/a
  unit  and  Organic  Chemical  Plant  of  Jilin   Chemical
Industrial Corporation with a 10 000 t/a unit.  Another  15
  000  t/a  unit  is  being    constructed    in    Lanzhou
Chemical  Industrial Corporation.
(1)  the  existing  unit  in  Lanzhou  Chemical  Industrial
Corporation The unit was introduced from the former  USSR.
The original design  capacity was 1 500 t/a.
The unit was completed and put into operation in July 1962.
The output was more than 4 000 tons from  1979  and    has
reached around  4 5000 tons in the  recent  years.   Major
brands are NBR-1704(18#),  2707( 26#) and 3604(40#).
The unit used the  process  of  high- temperature  emulsion
batch polymerization to produce heat polymerization  rigid
NBR.
Table 1 shows the output  of  the  unit  in  1987  -   1997
(excluding  the  output of flexible NBR trial- produced  in
the SBR unit).
(2) the unit in Jilin Chemical Industrial Corporation
The unit introduced  technology  from  JSR  of  Japan.   It
  completed  wet commissioning in September 1993. It    was
a  production  line  established after the  renovation  of
the SBR unit. While maintaining the capacity of 80 000 t/a
SBR, a 10 000 t/a NBR production line was added. The  unit
uses the process of low-temperature polymerization.  Major
brands are N220S,  N230S, N240S, N220SH and N230SL.  Table
1 shows the output of the unit in  1993  - 1997. The  unit
suspended production in 1997.
(3) the new unit in Lanzhou Chemical Industrial Corporation
On the basis of the supply and  demand  in  the    domestic
market  and  the  technical  gap  with  foreign  countries
,   Lanzhou Chemical  Industrial  Corporation  proposed  to
introduce technology from abroad to   construct    an  NBR
unit in the  early  Sixth  Five- year  Plan  period.   The
feasibility   study  report  was  approved  by  the  State
  Planning    Commission    in  December    1992.     China
Petrochemical Corporation approved in September  1997  the
preliminary design of a 15 000  t/a unit    proposed    by
Lanzhou  Chemical  Industrial Corporation. The  unit  will
be completed and put on stream in 1999.
  The unit will introduce the patented process and    know-
how  of  emulsion polymerization from a company of  Japan.
The Japanese side  will  undertake the  basic  design  and
the Design Institute of  Lanzhou    Chemical    Industrial
Corporation will do the engineering design.  The    design
capacity  of  the unit will be 15 000 t/a. There will be a
  total  of    9    brands.       Brands    of   continuous
polymerization include N-21, N-31, N-32  and  N- 41,   and
brands of batch polymerization include DN003, DN401, DN214
, DN631 and N-34.
2. Market supply and demand
(1) domestic demand satisfied by imports
  In  the  years  before  1993,   only  Lanzhou    Chemical
Industrial  Corporation produced NBR. The output was  less
than 4 500 tons and there  were  only  3  brands  of  heat
polymerization rigid product. The domestic demand could not
be satisfied.  After  the  unit    in    Jilin    Chemical
Industrial  Corporation started production in  1993,   the
capacity of NBR increased to 14  000  t/a.  However,   the
operating rate of   the    unit    in    Jilin    Chemical
Industrial Corporation is low,   and  the  total  domestic
output is only 7 000 -   9  000  tons,   leaving  a  great
supply  shortage.   Great   quantities    have    to    be
imported from Japan and Russia. The import amount  of  NBR
in  primary  form was close to 15 000 tons in 1996 and the
import volume was  more  than  21 million U.S. dollars.
The source countries were mainly Japan  and  Canada  before
the  90's.   They have changed to Japan and  Russia  since
the 90's,  and &nbs