Rubber Adhesive Tapes Market Current Analysis of Potential Growth Challenges and Future Developments

Rubber Adhesive Tapes Market: Introduction

Rubber adhesive tapes are typically used for indoor applications with low stress requirements. They generally adhere well to low surface energy substrates, and can be formulated for excellent removability. Rubber adhesives are generally found on masking tapes, carton sealing tapes, duct tapes, and lament tapes. Rubber adhesives are not tacky by nature, so it is necessary to add tackier resins to create the adhesive.
Rubber adhesive tapes are majorly used in hot melt applications. Rubber possesses characteristics, such as high tack and peel strength, due to its ability to adhere well to several non-polar, low-energy surfaces, including polyethylene and polypropylene. These tapes possess high peel strength, versatility in a formulation, and good electrical and thermal insulation properties. The cost of rubber-based adhesive tapes is very low as compared to silicone- and acrylic-based adhesive tapes.

On the basis of application, rubber adhesive tapes can be classified into packaging, healthcare, electrical & electronics, automotive, and others. Packaging is the most dominant segment of the rubber adhesive tapes market. Increase in demand for adhesive tapes in food and non-food packaging is a major driver of the market.
Packaging was a major end-use segment in the global adhesive tapes market in 2018. This can be attributed to the fact that almost every industry makes use of tapes for packaging products. Furthermore, increase in trend of online shopping in developing economies, is boosting the demand for retail e-commerce packaging, which in turn, requires adhesive tapes for packaging purpose.
One of the major drivers of the rubber adhesive tapes market is the expansion of automotive industry. In this industry, tapes having adhesive properties are mainly used in the form of double-sided tapes and protection tapes. Automotive manufacturers are moving from mechanical fasteners to automotive tapes with adhesive properties to reduce weight of vehicles. Since mechanical fasteners, such as bolts and screws, increase weight of the vehicles, these products are increasingly being substituted by lightweight adhesive solutions. Thus, increase in adoption of adhesive tapes in automobile industry is expected to boost the rubber adhesive tapes market.

Two main categories of rubber adhesive tapes are natural rubber and synthetic rubber. Natural rubber adhesive tapes have generally have a high molecular weight with long polymer chains. They typically adhere to substrates and exhibit clean removability and good shear, but poor temperature resistance and ageing properties.
Synthetic rubber adhesive tapes are often referred to as ‘hot melt adhesive’. Synthetic rubber adhesives are thermoplastics with a low molecular weight, or short polymer chains. They are more customizable than natural rubber adhesives for greater adhesion with more tack and temperature/UV ageing resistance. Synthetic rubber can be segmented into three subgroups: Hot Melt, Solvent, and Butyl rubber.
Hot melt is a low-temperature melting plastic, which makes this adhesive have low temperature resistance. Furthermore, it ages poorly (becoming brittle) and has low UV resistance. This rubber is used for low- to medium-duty carton sealing, low-temperature splicing as well as paper core starting applications.
Solvent rubber-based adhesives have better temperature and aging performance but still poor UV resistance. They are used for electrical and foam tapes.
Butyl rubber-based tapes have excellent UV and aging resistance but lower mechanical strength. These tapes are used in foam tape applications and construction and plumbing applications such as pipe joints.

Volatile prices of raw materials are acting as a restraint of the rubber adhesive tapes market. Natural rubber, which is a petroleum-based derivative, is one of the basic raw materials in the manufacture of rubber adhesive tapes. Thus, it is vulnerable to fluctuations in commodity prices. This acts as a restraint of the global rubber adhesive tapes market.

In terms of region, the global rubber adhesive tapes market can be divided into: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa
The adhesive tapes market in the Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at a high CAGR during the forecast period. Rise in demand for adhesive tapes from countries, such as India, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Singapore, is projected to drive the adhesive tapes market in the Asia Pacific region. China is expected to lead the demand for adhesive tapes in the Asia Pacific region.
The rubber adhesive tapes market in Europe is led by Germany, France, and the U.K. The market in the region is primarily driven by increase in demand from the building & construction industry in Europe.