Boosting demand for MERACRYL® GMAA

Methacrylic acid is seeing a significant upswing in the market and production can barely keep up with the high order income.

Thea Röhm Wesseling Site

One of the major reasons: Demand for medical gloves has exploded since the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 around the world last year. Therefore, producers of gloves are showing stronger demand for MERACRYL® methacrylic acid GMAA as GMAA is an important component of Nitrile- Butadiene Rubber (NBR) gloves.

The medical gloves market is mainly divided into natural latex gloves, Nitrile- Butadiene Rubber (NBR) gloves and PVC gloves. NBR gloves are widely used in hospitals due to excellent elasticity, high tensile strength, acid and alkali resistance and non-allergenic properties. This is why they are highly consumed during epidemics.

To produce these medical NBR gloves, butadiene and acrylonitrile are polymerized. Just add a small amount of MERACRYL® methacrylic acid GMAA and NBR can significantly improve the tensile strength, tear strength, hardness and wear resistance, while optimizing the adhesion and ozone aging resistance. MERACRYLTM methacrylic acid GMAA further promotes a higher oil resistance of the NBR with better compatibility with PVC and phenolic resins.

The world's main producers of NBR gloves concentrate in Southeast Asia and China. Sharply increasing demand for NBR gloves led consequently to higher imports of raw materials for production purposes and exports of NBR gloves in these regions. Alone, China’s NBR capacity is expected to grow around 6-7* times until 2023 compared to 2019.

With high quality products and reliable supply, Röhm is a long-term partner for NBR producers around the world. Röhm’s global expert team is ready to provide efficient and professional solutions to ensure the supply of medical gloves as important epidemic protection material. Our objective is to support you to make your products better. If you have any open topics, just contact us. We are here for you! Wherever you are.

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*Source: NBR industry conference 2021 by OilChem

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