“Recent rubber price increases generally have stuck because customers really don’t have any other choices, said Bill Hyde, director of C4 olefins and elastomers for Houston-based Chemical Marketing Associates Inc.

Producers have been able to push through some substantial increases, and no one rubber producer is exposed more than another because they’re all exposed to cost-push and feedstock limitation issues, he said.

While there is more natural rubber available compared to synthetic rubber—which is experiencing some record highs in pricing—NR prices are actually higher, Hyde said. With the tightness of supply in North America, importing SBR would seem to be a viable alternative, except that supply in regions like Asia is even tighter and the prices are higher.

In the case of highly engineered rubber products, where the specifications are tight, manufacturers really can’t move back and forth on materials, Hyde said.

“There’s a widespread shortage of synthetic rubber,” he said. “Polybutadiene and SBR producers have been allocating 50-90 percent of contract levels since February here in the U.S. In the short term, there aren’t a lot of other options.””

• Manufacturers, medical institutions, shippers, and the end-user are all suffering from the rising costs and reduced availability of raw materials. Speculators have now found rubber so are having the same undesirable affect as they have had on petroleum.
• An economist from the International Rubber Study Group indicated a serious but temporary shortfall in rubber and latex supplies will start in 2010. During this time, prices will rise even further.
• On average, the EU and USA use approximately 100 gloves per person per year.
• Attendees were excited about guayule latex and manufacturing gloves in the U.S.

Industry experts are concerned about the increasing price of rubber prices.

A good article about the history of rubber and possibility of leaf blight devastating the U.S. is by ethnobotanist Wade Davis here.