Economic developments in the future
H.P. Smit, Secretary General International Rubber Study Groep, London
The paper will try to give answers to the following questions: - How will the world economy develop? - What will be the effect on vehicle ownership and sales? - How will this affect tyre sales? - What will be total rubber demand in the various countries and regions of the world? - Will oil continue to be scare and expensive? And, if so, will this boost demand for natural rubber? - But will there be enough natural rubber? If not, how much synthetic rubber will be required to fill the gap? We will look at a time horizon of a few decades.