LIBERIA: Rubber firm suspends tapping operations

The management of the Salala Rubber Corporation (SRC) in Upper Margibi County of northern Liberia has announced the indefinite stoppage of all rubber tapping operations at the company, as well as the closure of all departments and sections associated with tapping operations until further notice.

A press statement issued by the management attributed the action to the continuing sharp decline in the price of natural rubber on the international market. The statement said it has become necessary for the company to streamline its operations as a means of cushioning it against the financial and economic shock occasioned by the plummeting of the price of rubber which has shown no sign of abating. The management further said as a result of the stoppage of all tapping operations, and the closure of the departments and sections related to those operations, it is constrained to lay off 300 of its employees, which is nearly half of its entire work force.

The company however said it will maintain a skeleton staff to keep the company running for now until there is some reversal in the decline in the price of rubber on the international market. The planned layoff exercise will affect all categories of employees within the company, some of whom are not directly connected to tapping operations. Between 2000 and 2010, the price of rubber went as high as USD 2,850 per wet ton, but started plummeting in 2011, and currently stands at USD 406 per wet ton. The Salala Rubber Corporation is one of the leading rubber plantations in the country with a workforce of more than 600 people.

Source: Agence de Presse Africaine (African News Agency), Dakar, Senegal; 2 Mar 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)