Korea Kumho Petrochemical
HQ KR32% share
Top global NBR latex supplier (~32% of supply); feedstock for nitrile gloves.
chemical · input
NBR Latex (Nitrile Butadiene Rubber Latex, Medical Grade)
Liquid nitrile butadiene rubber emulsion used as the primary raw material for nitrile examination and surgical gloves. Derived from acrylonitrile and butadiene via emulsion polymerization. Medical-grade NBL is the upstream feedstock for all Malaysian nitrile glove manufacturers (Top Glove, Hartalega, Kossan, Supermax). Approx. 2.5M tons/year global market.
1
Source countries
4
Companies
1
Goods affected
0
Claims on record
What depends on it
Goods that need this input
1 essential American goods rely on nbr latex (nitrile butadiene rubber latex, medical grade) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.
Where it comes from
Source countries
Share of global supply, by country.
| Country | Share of supply |
|---|---|
| MYMalaysia | 45% |
Who makes it
Supplier companies
4 companies produce nbr latex (nitrile butadiene rubber latex, medical grade).
Synthomer plc
HQ GB28% share
Major NBL maker (with Malaysian plants beside glove factories); Kumho + Synthomer ~60% of global NBL.
LG Chem (NBR Latex)(051910.KS)
HQ KR22% share
Zeon Corporation
HQ JP10% share
Zeon Corporation (Tokyo Japan; TSE: 4205; ~¥300B revenue) is the world's largest manufacturer of NBR (nitrile-butadiene rubber) latex for disposable glove production, under the Nippon Zeon brand. Zeon holds an estimated 25-30% global NBR latex market share for glove applications. Primary NBR latex manufacturing at Takaoka plant in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. Zeon's NBR latex is based on the emulsion polymerization of acrylonitrile and butadiene monomers — the same chemistry Nippon Zeon pioneered in Japan in the 1950s. Zeon also produces specialty elastomers (HNBR, chloroprene), optical films (ZEONEX), and medical plastics. The Takaoka facility is the single largest NBR latex production site in Asia outside Malaysia.