WORLD: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand join efforts to stop world rubber price decline

Malaysia's Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, said one of the measures suggested was to ensure production did not exceed the current world rubber demand.

“The control in production can be the controlling factor of rubber price based on the supply and demand theory where high supply can cause the rubber price to fall and vice-versa,” he said.

Uggah suggested that the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) members hold a ministerial-level meeting and make a effective decision on the world rubber price.

“The 11 ANRPC nations contribute 95 % to the world’s natural rubber supply and if we all worked together, it would make a big impact in handling the issue,” he said.

Uggah said ANRPC is also looking at new ways of using natural rubber to increase its demand.

“One of the ways is in Thailand where rubber is used as one of the materials for making roads which they have succeeded and Malaysia is expected to follow suit,” he said.

Uggah said the government came up with the rubber production incentives for smaller-scale rubber planters following the decline in rubber price.

“There will be a cabinet committee to help planters ease their burden. We will have meetings to find out to what other things we can do for them but our main hope is that the rubber price goes up and the planters make profit.

“The government allocated RM100 million for the rubber production incentive fund in the 2015 Budget which will be implemented on 1 Jan. next year,” he said.

Source: "Bernama" (National News Agency of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur; 13 Dec 2014
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)