VIETNAM: Rubber industry enjoys good start in 2019

Vietnam earned USD 220 million from shipping 175,000 tons of rubber abroad in January 2019, up 10.8 percent in value and 28.9 percent in volume compared to the same month last year. Experts predict further growth in rubber exports this year with global demand set to rise 4.2 percent to 14.59 million tons, while total output is forecast at 14.84 million tons.

The domestic rubber industry will also benefit from the increase of crude oil prices to push rubber prices up. However, Chairman of the Rubber Plastic Manufacturer Association Nguyen Quoc Anh said high stock levels could exert pressure on rubber suppliers. Further, demand growth in China, which accounts for 40 percent of global consumption, would slow to 3.2 percent in 2019 from 5.3 percent in 2018 and 7.5 percent in 2017 on the country’s economic downturn.

Source: Daily “VietnamPlus”, Hanoi; 15 Feb 2019
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)