CAMBODIA: 2011 rubber prices surge 132 per cent on demand

Last year’s surge was primarily due to rising foreign demand and larger production hauls, Ly Phalla, general director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ rubber department, said. This rapid increase was not expected to become a trend, he said.

“The world’s demand for rubber in 2012 is predicted to exceed that in 2011 by only 5.5 per cent due to a recovering Cambodian economy and slowed production in other fields,” Ly Phalla said.

Exports will continue to grow, he said, albeit at a slower pace.

Mak Kim Hong, president of the Cambodian Rubber Association and the owner of Kampong Cham’s Chub Rubber plantation, said his company’s rubber exports reached about 12,000 tonnes, exceeding 2010’s yield by around 1,000 tonnes.

“There are now more rubber trees being planted to add to the benefits,” Mak Kim Hong said.

According to Ly Phalla, rubber-tree plantations in 2010 covered 181,450 hectares, increasing by 21 hectares in 2011.

Ly Phalla said one tonne of rubber currently fetched about USD 3,300 on the market. Rubber prices had increased for the first nine months of 2011, he added.

The Cambodian government is drafting policies concerning the production and processing of rubber, as well as developing plans to increase rubber exports.

Source: Daily "The Phom Penh Post", Phom Penh; 23 Jan 2012

(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)