(1) The rubber industry is an important traditional industry in the world

The so-called rubber industry mainly refers to the use of rubber and other elastomers as the main materials in the world, and it is mixed with a kind of reinforcing auxiliary materials such as carbon black, and is added with various functional auxiliaries. At the same time, it is combined with fibers, metals and other materials as the supporting skeleton. An industry that produces rubber products after molding and curing. The rubber industry is different from the natural rubber and synthetic rubber industries as raw materials. In recent years, it is also referred to as the rubber processing industry and in the economic industry as the rubber product industry.

After more than 160 years of development, the world rubber industry has now become an important traditional industry in many developed countries. Nowadays, the world's annual rubber consumption reaches more than 17 million tons, and about 100,000 kinds of rubber products cover all areas of human society. In the second industry group, the rubber industry is unique in its elastomer material industry. In the past 20 or 30 years, due to the impact of two world oil crises in the 1970s, the rubber industry has seen the expansion of long-term dependence on the rubber industry as the primary means of increasing economic efficiency. It has gradually transformed itself from improving quality and increasing variety. And the new period of continuous reduction of production costs as the goal.

In the face of the current situation in which the world's traditional rubber products are in serious excess, market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and corporate profits are continuously declining. Experts believe that with the rapid development of the global high-tech industry, the complete reorganization, transformation, and reform of the traditional rubber industry have become an inevitable trend. The only way out is to speed up industrial upgrading and promote product replacement so that the rubber industry can realize high-tech as soon as possible.

(II) Current status and characteristics of the development of the world rubber industry

At present, the world rubber industry has sales of more than 250 billion U.S. dollars, and rubber products have already become important commodities for international trade. In the world market, rubber products have formed a tire-centered, industrial, construction supplies as the focus, involving rubber products such as shoes, tapes, and medical products, culture, sports and other major product groups. The modern rubber industry has formed the following six characteristics:

1. The rubber industry is an inclusive and multi-industry industry. In the world of rubber consumption, the rubber industry consumes more than 80% of the world's rubber. The total amount of rubber materials and products processed and produced by them reaches more than 35 million tons, which can be divided into more than ten categories such as tires, pipes, belts, plates, and various types of profiles, plastic parts, glues, rubber shoes, and adhesive tapes. They are related to the national economy, people's lives, national defense industry, and cutting-edge high-tech. They are widely used in many fields such as shock absorption, sealing, bonding, wear-resistance, corrosion protection, insulation, and electrical conductivity. They are mostly rubber and fiber, metal, and plastics. Firmly combined with the rubber compound. In the entire rubber products, from the amount of glue used, the largest tires accounted for more than 50%, industrial, health care, sports three accounted for 30%, daily products represented by rubber shoes, representing about 10%. Rubber products are mainly consumed in areas such as transportation, construction, industry, and science and technology, with the greatest dependence on traffic and architecture.

Today, about 65% of rubber is used in the automotive industry, and the most used types of rubber are used. The amount of rubber used in a small car has exceeded 100 kilograms, including 37.8 kilograms of tires; more than 200 types of rubber products; rubber products used in automotive applications now account for more than 10% of the total cost of cars. They are as large as tires. , airbags, and fan belts, brake tubes, heat pipes, air conditioning tubes, sealing strips, as small as oil seals, O-rings, gaskets, shock absorbers, diaphragms, etc., distributed in the car's walking agencies, engines, bodywork, etc. The transmission, shock absorption, sealing, dust, air conditioning and security systems.

Rubber materials for construction account for about 15% to 20% of all rubber consumption, second only to tires. In addition to various construction machinery and transport equipment for construction on the site, it is mainly used on various types of structures for waterproofing, sealing, anti-vibration and sound insulation, such as building waterproof rubber membranes. Elastomeric sealants used in joints around the world are estimated to have a minimum demand of more than 500,000 tons per year, of which the silicone rubber series is nearly half and the polyurethane series is about 30%. In addition, indoor dust-proof, sound-insulating gaskets, ground-cushioned rubber seat cushions, etc., have become indispensable materials for high-rise modern buildings and buildings in recent years.

2. Tyres have become the most representative industry in the rubber industry. The tire industry has always been a pillar industry in the rubber industry. The tire industry is a symbol of the level of the rubber industry, both technically and economically, and its use of glue accounts for more than 50%, and there is still a rising trend. Now the world's tire production has reached 1.1 billion, with sales exceeding 70 billion US dollars. 80% of large companies in the rubber industry are concentrated in the tire industry.

The top ten tire manufacturers in the world have achieved annual sales of more than US$1 billion. There are 470 tire factories in the world (China has 55), distributed in 79 countries and regions, and the United States, Goodyear, France Michelin and Japan Bridgestone’s three multinational companies have 152 factories, accounting for 36.6%, divided In 69 countries and regions, production accounts for more than 54% of the world.

Except for our country, most of the tire factories in all countries in the world have an annual output of 5 million and a consumption of 40,000 tons or more. The world’s tire giants have a world-class tire factory that consumes about 100,000 tons of rubber a year, as well as an automated demonstration production line that fully displays high-tech and equipment robots. South Korea has also built the world’s largest tire factory.

At present, the development characteristics of the world tire industry: on the one hand, it is concentrated among the top ten manufacturers, and the distance between the top ten is also widening (a difference of more than 10 times before and after), forming the first group (tire big three) and the second group ( Three multinational tire companies) and the third group (four large tire companies); the other is the transfer from the United States and Europe to Asia. China, Japan, and South Korea have begun to surpass North America in tire production.

In 2000, China's rubber consumption reached 2.1 million tons, and its tire output was 120 million. In terms of the amount of glue used, it has surpassed Japan’s 1.8 million tons for the third consecutive year, ranking second in the world; tire production is approximately two-thirds of Japan’s 170 million, ranking third in the world. At present, the United States, Japan, and China have become the world's three largest tire-producing countries. In the past ten years, the United States has maintained its leading position in the world rubber industry. Rubber consumption accounts for 20% (3.5 million tons) of the world's total, and tire production accounts for 23% of the world's total (2.5 million), driven by high-tech industries such as the information industry. Its rubber industry is a world leader in technology and economy.

3. The structural changes in industrial and daily necessities are accelerating. With the trend of the tire industry being increasingly dominated by the rubber industry, the growth in the use of rubber in industrial products and other rubber products is relatively slow. The tendency of blending, compounding, and resinization of rubber and plastics has continued to increase.

In industrial products, except for a few products such as shock-absorbing rubber and rubber yarns, natural rubber is still the main product, and many of them have been replaced by rubber and plastic products or plastic products, of which the most prominent are tapes, hoses and tapes.

Wire and cable was originally a member of the rubber industry, but since the 1940s, it has completely separated itself from the rubber industry and formed its own system. Subsequently, asbestos rubber products were also separated out to form the asbestos rubber industry. In the 1960s, with the rapid development of synthetic adhesives, rubber adhesives and resin adhesives formed a close relationship with each other and gradually formed the adhesive and sealant industries.

In addition, since the 1970s, due to the mutual penetration of rubber shoes and leather shoes, cloth shoes and plastic shoes, there have been many new varieties of travel shoes, casual shoes, athletic shoes and functional shoes. Modern shoes have broken the natural boundaries that distinguish between rubber and non-rubber shoes. In uppers and soles, leather, fabrics, non-woven fabrics, rubber, plastics, rubber-plastic blends, thermoplastic elastomers and other materials are often combined and used in combination; The differences between them have continued to shrink and have become difficult to identify in appearance. Rubber shoes and other footwear are gradually merged into a single footwear industry.

The world footwear has been listed as an international bulk commodity with garments. The annual output has reached more than 10 billion pairs, of which the foreign trade volume exceeds 4 billion pairs and the global sales amount is 50 billion US dollars. At present, the production of footwear is mainly concentrated in East Asia and has been transferred from South Korea, China Taiwan and Hong Kong to developing countries such as China, Thailand and Indonesia. In 1998, China's footwear product production reached 6 billion pairs and exported to more than 150 countries and regions, accounting for more than half of the world footwear market. The annual foreign exchange earnings reached approximately USD 9 billion, making it the world's largest producer and seller of footwear. Of the 6 billion pairs of shoes, only 1.2 billion pairs can be distinguished from rubber shoes. Qingdao Double Star Group has entered the world's largest rubber shoe manufacturer.

4. The proportion of rubber used in non-rubber industry and non-rubber products has been continuously expanding. In recent years, the proportion of non-rubber products other than the rubber industry has now accounted for 20% of the world's total rubber consumption, especially for synthetic rubber, which is as much as 28% higher, and has continued to rise.

The plastics industry has now become the largest rubber industry outside the rubber industry. About 800,000 tons of rubber are used annually as elastic reinforcement materials. Among them, more than 60% are used in the form of latex. In construction, the rubber used for the purpose of reinforcing the asphalt paving materials, the elasticity of concrete components, and other waterproofing and bonding purposes is about 300,000 tons in the world, of which 20% is latex. In addition, the rubber used for paper processing and fiber processing ranks first in global latex consumption, reaching 1.2 million tons and more than 180,000 tons respectively. The use of rubber-elastic modified plastics can greatly improve the weaknesses of plastics, thus expanding the scope of application and use, and has now become an important modified material for the plastics industry. Similarly, rubber-modified asphalt has also become a good material for construction paving. High-strength paper mixed with latex is indispensable for high-grade paper such as anti-break wrapping paper and color printing paper. Treating fibers with latex has greater advantages than other adhesive materials and has become a material that is difficult for the fiber industry to leave. In addition, rubber is an important insulating material for high-medium-sized piezoelectric wire cables in the electrical industry, and is also the most important adhesive material for adhesives. Their glue consumption has reached about 200,000 tons respectively. In recent years, rubber has further developed into adhesive materials for high-tech fields such as electronic information and rocket propellants.

Rubber is no longer a single special raw material for the rubber industry. The field of rubber used in the non-rubber industry is rapidly expanding and forming a large number of non-rubber products outside the rubber industry.

5, a new generation of rubber in the continuous promotion of the rubber industry's technological revolution. The raw materials for rubber products have been diversified from a single conventional rubber. The liquid rubber and thermoplastic elastomer known as second- and third-generation rubbers have emerged in the rubber industry, providing a new direction for the revolution in the process technology of the rubber industry. On the other hand, cross-linkable plastics that are considered rubber-like elastomers, such as modified polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polyethylene vinyl acetate, chlorinated polyethylene, etc., have also become important for rubber products. Alternative materials. In the liquid rubber, the development of polyurethane is particularly prominent. The use of liquid polyurethane to process rubber products eliminates the need for complex forming processes and allows the molding and vulcanization to be directly linked together, greatly simplifying the rubber processing process; especially in the area of sponges, etc., as the polyurethane foam material overcomes the shortcomings of rubber aging, Now it basically replaces rubber and becomes the unifying world of polyurethane. At present, the world's polyurethane production exceeds 8 million tons, which is approximately half of the consumption of rubber, of which about one-eighth is used as the rubber industry. Thermoplastic elastomers are new materials that have rubber properties and can be processed using plastics. In recent years, it has grown by 6% to 7% annually over rubber consumption, and now accounts for 7% to 8% of the total rubber consumption. Thermoplastic elastomers are mainly based on industrial products and are widely used in hoses, rubber shoes, rubber sheets, tapes, and various profiles. Its characteristic is that it can be produced using existing plastic processing equipment, and at the same time it can be blended with plastics and rubbers. The emergence and development of thermoplastic elastomers have caused the rubber industry to gradually disappear with features characterized by “vulcanization” and gradually merge with plastics processing.

6, rubber high-tech products for the rubber industry opened up a new economic growth point. In recent years, high-tech rubber materials and products that have emerged to meet the needs of high-tech industrialization have become new economic growth points for the development of the rubber industry.

The rubber high-tech materials with new characteristics have been seen in the market for dozens of kinds. Although their use of glue is still very small, but the added value is very high, the growth rate is very fast, has begun to occupy a certain position in the industrial products, in the future may form a new industry. At present, the fastest-growing materials are high-tech rubber materials used in electronic information, seal damping, office automation, and home appliances. Most of these materials are chemically modified rubber, rubber-plastic blends, and composite products in various ways. Most of these materials have become polymer functional materials that are difficult to distinguish between rubber and plastic.

With the rapid development of high technology, many traditional rubber products have also begun to achieve high performance and functionality. They cover everything from tires, industrial products to rubber shoes, including: green tires, smart tires, timing belts, energy-saving belts, explosion-proof hoses and various functional shoes, as well as various seals, shock absorption, transmission, and induction rubber. Pieces and so on. These rubber products that have been transformed with high-tech products on the basis of traditional rubber products have opened up new avenues for the future development of the rubber industry.

(III) Several Problems Faced by the World Rubber Industry in the 21st Century

1, environmental issues. Dust pollution has always been the biggest problem in the rubber industry. In particular, the pollution caused by carbon black transportation, ingredients, and kneading has caused damage to operators and the surrounding environment.

Carbon black is the only best compounding agent for rubber reinforcement. Without carbon black reinforcement, the use value of rubber will be greatly reduced, and even rubber products cannot be made. It can be said that without carbon black, there is no rubber industry. On the other hand, the pollution caused by the production of rubber by carbon black is the biggest problem that threatens the rubber industry. To solve this problem, many rubber plants use sealed transportation ingredients and mixing methods to seal production to prevent carbon black from spilling. Although this has eased the problem of dust flying, equipment investment and power consumption have increased greatly. At the same time, the huge mixing equipment system complicates production. The maximum power of large-scale mixers has reached 3000 KW, causing noise pollution in the rubber factory that was originally affected by noise.

In addition, the working temperature can reach 140-180°C during rubber compounding and vulcanization. The fog and fumes escaped from the rubber at high temperatures often make it difficult for operators to breathe and absorb a large number of harmful substances. Although many developed countries have banned the use of toxic antioxidants, vulcanization accelerators, and peptizers, and monitor the gases produced during the vulcanization process. However, complicated carcinogenic factors have so far made it difficult to make scientific conclusions. In recent years, with the increasingly high temperature of the vulcanization process, and some even reaching 200°C, the harm of smoke to the environment has been further increased. In addition, a variety of organic solvents are used in the production of shoes, adhesives, glues, etc. Most of them are very toxic. Many of these solvents are volatile and often cause chronic poisoning. Not only do they worsen the production environment, but they also easily cause factory fires.

Also used used rubber products are difficult to use