TPE resin supplier: SEBS, TPV and overmold grades by durometer

Comparing TPV with other materials? See TPV vs. EPDM, TPE, TPU, silicone and PVC, or the side-by-side pages for EPDM rubber, SEBS TPE, silicone and flexible PVC. Molding problems: overmold not bonding, seals taking a set, sticky or oily parts.

Grades we source

Tap a grade to add it to your quote request.

• Styrenic TPE (SEBS/SBS), from ultra-soft gels (Shore OO scale) through about Shore 95A / 50D
• TPV grades for sealing
• Overmolding / bond-to-PP, -ABS, -PC grades
• FDA food-contact grades
• Custom colors and durometers

About TPE / TPV

Styrenic TPEs mold soft-touch surfaces and flexible parts on standard injection equipment; TPVs (vulcanizate alloys) push heat and compression-set performance close to EPDM rubber. Both overmold onto rigid substrates for grip-and-seal designs, and both recycle in-process like any thermoplastic.

Common applications

• Soft-touch grips and handles
• Seals, gaskets and plugs
• Overmolded tool and device surfaces
• Flexible consumer parts
• Automotive weatherseals (TPV)

Typical properties

Impact strength	Elastomeric
Heat (service)	TPE ~70-100°C · TPV ~125°C
Clarity	Translucent-opaque
Chemical resistance	Good vs. water, acids, bases and polar fluids; poor vs. oils, fuels and hydrocarbon solvents (TPV is better than styrenic TPE but still swells in hot oil)
Relative cost	Moderate

Property ranges are general guidance and vary by grade and supplier; a polymer chemist confirms the exact spec against the data sheet and certificate of analysis for your application.

Which grade to ask for

Name the hardness, the substrate if you overmold, and whether the part has to seal.

Typical starting points. Grades vary, so confirm on the data sheet for the exact grade.

Grade finder: start from what you make

Pick what you make, find the row for your part, and tap Quote this to add it to the form. Hardness is the first filter, but the family, the substrate and the fluids the part sees decide whether a grade works.

These windows are typical published ranges to start the conversation. A hardness number means little without its method: ASTM D2240 takes the reading within 1 second unless another time is specified, many TPE sheets quote a 5, 10 or 15 second reading, and ISO 868 uses 15 seconds, as does ISO 48-4 for thermoplastic rubber (3 seconds for vulcanized rubber). Thickness and temperature change the reading too. TPE melt flow is quoted at many conditions (for example 190°C / 374°F, 200°C / 392°F or 230°C / 446°F, with 2.16 or 5 kg), so compare flow only at the same condition. A chemist checks any equivalent before you switch.

Processing notes

• Drying. Styrenic TPE usually needs no drying; if needed, dry at about 60–80°C / 140–176°F for 2–4 hours. TPV should be dried: about 80°C / 176°F for 3 hours (4 hours with regrind) to 0.08% or less.
• Melt temperature. Styrenic TPE: about 190–245°C / 374–473°F. TPV: about 175–230°C / 347–446°F. Keep residence under about 10 minutes for TPE, and purge TPV if the press idles longer than about 20 minutes.
• Mold temperature. Styrenic TPE: about 15–60°C / 59–140°F. TPV: about 10–66°C / 50–151°F. For overmolding, a warmer tool usually improves the bond.
• Shrinkage. Styrenic TPE: about 1.1–2.1% along flow and 0.7–1.3% across. TPV depends on hardness: about 4.1% along flow at 49A falling to 1.5% at 94A, with cross-flow near 0.7%. Soft TPV parts are strongly anisotropic.
• Regrind. Clean same-grade regrind usually goes back in well. Check hardness and, on overmolds, bond strength at your ratio.
• Most common defect. Poor bond or delamination in overmolding: wrong grade for the substrate, a cold or contaminated substrate, or mold release on the insert. Soft grades also stick in the mold. See delamination and parts sticking in the mold.

How TPE and TPV prices are set

Most TPEs are compounds: a base polymer blended with oil, polypropylene, filler and additives. The price follows that recipe. SEBS is made from styrene and butadiene and then hydrogenated, and a limited number of producers worldwide make it. Styrene follows benzene and ethylene. Butadiene comes from the C4 stream of steam crackers, and since North American crackers moved to ethane they make less of it, so it can swing hard. SBS skips the hydrogenation step, so it costs less but has poorer heat and UV resistance. Soft grades carry a large share of white or paraffinic oil, which follows base-oil markets. The PP share follows propylene. Calcium carbonate filler lowers the price per pound but raises the density, so the cost per part may not drop.

TPV is EPDM rubber crosslinked inside PP while the two are mixed in an extruder. EPDM is made from ethylene, propylene and a diene, and a short list of producers make it. The curing step adds cost and slows the process. As a rough guide, TPO and SBS compounds usually cost least. General-purpose SEBS and general-purpose TPV sit in the middle and overlap; which one costs less varies by grade, hardness and filler level, so price both at the same hardness. Overmold grades for engineering plastics, medical, food-contact, flame-retardant and oil-resistant grades cost more. TPU and COPE usually cost more again. Compare on cost per part, not per pound: multiply the price by the specific gravity, since a soft SEBS at about 0.9 and a filled grade at about 1.2 fill very different numbers of parts per pound.

TPE has no monthly industry price settlement like PE and PP. Compounders and distributors sell from price lists, announce increases or raw-material surcharges by letter, and often fix contract prices for a quarter or a year. Custom colors and custom hardness carry minimum run sizes and setup charges. Butadiene and styrene outages, Gulf Coast storms and outages at SEBS or EPDM plants have tightened supply before, and when that happens contract customers are usually served first.

A warning about search results: many TPE price per pound numbers online are retail prices for craft or toy-filling pellets, or overseas offers in metric tons. None of them is the price of a production grade delivered to your dock.

We do not post prices. Every quote is for a specific grade, hardness, color, quantity, package and ship-to city. See how resin is priced for the mechanics and the resin market notes for what is moving this month.

What order size does to the price

Freight to your dock, FOB versus delivered terms, imported versus domestic compound, the color and the hardness can move the price as much as order size, so send your ship-to city with every request.

Ways to lower the cost: buy a full truckload instead of single gaylords, tell us imported resin is OK, or ask about surplus lots and recycled grades if your part allows. See how resin is priced.

Packaging and lead times

We confirm a ship date with every quote, and we do not promise one until the source has confirmed it. Standard grades in natural or black, at common hardness steps, usually ship first when they sit packaged in a compounder’s or distributor’s inventory. Custom colors, custom hardness and adhesion grades for a specific substrate are often made to order on a compounder’s schedule, which can take weeks, and a color match adds time for you to approve a plaque. Medical grades are often made under tighter change control and can take longer. Imported compounds add ocean transit and customs time.

When SEBS, EPDM or butadiene is tight, compounders serve contract customers first and lead times stretch for everyone. Tell us the date you need resin on your floor and how much you have on hand, and we will tell you what is realistic. See what to do under allocation or force majeure and gaylord vs. LTL vs. truckload.

What to put on the purchase order

• Hardness: Shore A (or Shore OO for gels) with a tolerance, and the test time if your customer specifies one.
• Family: styrenic TPE or TPV. They are not interchangeable in sealing parts.
• Substrate for overmold grades: PP, ABS, PC, PC/ABS or nylon, including any glass fill.
• Sealing properties for TPV: compression set at your temperature and time, and fluid resistance if oils are present.
• Color: natural, black or a custom match. Soft grades show color shifts readily.
• Food or UL requirements by grade: the producer’s FDA letter, and UL recognition, which is grade-specific and color-specific.
• COA values to check: hardness, specific gravity and melt flow if the grade lists it.

Prime, wide-spec, reprocessed or recycled

Checking the COA when the lot arrives

• Lot number and grade. The lot on the COA matches the label on every bag or gaylord, and the grade name, hardness step and color code match your PO.
• Hardness with its method. Shore A, D or OO is inside your window, and the COA states the scale and reading time. A 1 second reading runs higher than a 15 second reading on the same plaque, so compare only like with like, on the same specimen thickness.
• Specific gravity. Specific gravity (ASTM D792 or ISO 1183) matches past lots. A shift often means more or less filler or oil, which changes feel, shrink and part weight even when hardness looks right.
• Melt flow, if reported. Check it only at the temperature and load stated on your spec. TPE sheets use several conditions, and values at different conditions do not convert.
• Tensile and elongation, if reported. ASTM D412 and ISO 37 use different specimens and do not convert one for one, so check the method before you compare.
• Color. For a custom color, check against your approved plaque (ΔE if the COA lists it). Natural TPV is off-white, not water-white.
• Moisture and packaging. For TPV and overmold grades, check whether the bag or liner is intact and dry before molding. Look for blocked or clumped pellets in soft grades, and for heavy dusting.
• Keep a retain. Seal a small sample of each lot so you can retest hardness or bond later. See the incoming inspection checklist and what a COA is.

Adding a second source without stopping the line

1. Write down what you run now. The grade, its data sheet, three to six recent COAs, the hardness method on your drawing, the substrate you mold onto, and every approval tied to the grade (FDA letter, medical file, UL listing, OEM spec, ASTM D2000 callout).
2. Match on paper first. TPE compounds are proprietary recipes, so the same hardness is not the same material. A polymer chemist compares the family (SEBS, SBS, TPV, TPO), hardness on the same method, specific gravity, the listed substrates, compression set and oil swell data, surface feel and documents, and tells you what differs.
3. Sample, then a production trial. Run bags or one gaylord next to your current grade. Check hardness on molded parts after 24 hours, a peel test on overmolds, compression set at temperature on seals, and feel, color and shrink. Soft TPV shrinks very differently along and across flow.
4. Get approvals before volume. Medical customers usually need a change notice and new testing, food parts need the new grade’s FDA letter, and automotive parts often need a PPAP. Start that paperwork early, since it usually takes longer than the trial.
5. Keep the second source active. Buy a small regular volume and trend its COAs, so it is ready if your main compounder goes on allocation. See how to qualify a second resin source.

Want a chemist to compare a second source with what you run now? Send the grade and recent COAs through the quote form or an RFQ package.

When to consider something else

• If the part sees abrasion, tearing or oil, look at TPU, and see TPE vs. TPU.
• If you need low-cost flexible tubing or cable jacket, look at flexible PVC.
• If you need a soft foam or a low-temperature flexible film, look at EVA.
• If you need flexible tubing that handles fuel, look at nylon 11 / nylon 12.

Common questions