The Rubber Industry in Brazil Past and Present

Where does the Rubber come from? The rubber comes from trees. It is like a form of sap. It begins as a white liquid, but when heat and friction are applied, it becomes much darker.

History of Rubber Originally, rubber was used by the native populations of Central and South America. When Columbus came to the Americas, he discovered the insulating abilities of rubber and took it back to Europe where it quickly caught on. Factories in both Europe and North America sprung up quickly to begin manufacturing rubber. Leopold II of Belgium conquered Congo the Free State where there was an abundance of rubber trees. He exploited the natives, killing many of them.

Exporting Rubber Rubber was exported to Europe and North America where it was processed in factories.

The Effects of World War Two World War Two increased the demand for rubber, and new, cheaper to produce, synthetic rubbers were produced for tires. The process of vulcanization was developed to toughen the rubber and make it more resistant to temperature change.

Synthetic Rubber Synthetic rubber is cheaper to produce, and it doesn’t require a high human cost like collecting natural rubber. Today, 60% of the world’s rubber is synthetic

The Producers

The Consumers