CAMBODIA: Rubber exports rise by 30 % year-on-year

Cambodia exported 282,071 tons of rubber last year, a 30 per cent increase from 2018’s 217,501 tons, a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries report said. The commodity reeled in USD 377 million in revenue last year, up 32 per cent from 2018’s USD 286 million, the report said.

Khoun Phalla, director of the General Directorate of Rubber’s Administration and Legal Department, told The Phnom Penh Post on Monday (27 January 2020) that increased demand was the main driver of the industry’s growth last year. Rubber prices rose slightly but not enough to turn consumers away from the commodity, he said.

The average price last year was USD 1,336 per ton, up USD 19 from 2018’s average price tag, he said. In December alone, the price averaged USD 1,371 per ton, up USD 44 from November last year. “China is the biggest market for Cambodia’s rubber right now. We export it to China through Vietnam. I expect rubber prices will remain stable this year,” he said.

The data also showed that a total of 406,142 ha of rubber had been planted last year, with more than 247,113 ha having been harvested. The General Directorate of Rubber announced a joint study on family-owned rubber plantations in three provinces to better understand how growers have responded to the sharp drop in rubber prices over the past nine years, Rubber Development Department deputy-director Kou Phally said earlier this month (January 2020).

The study will focus on the Kingdom’s three dominant rubber-producing regions – Kampong Cham province’s Stung Trang district, Kratie province’s Snuol district, and Ratanakkiri province’s Bakeo district, he said.

Source: Daily “The Phnom Penh Post”, Phnom Penh; 27 Jan 2020
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)