A worker extracts rubber latex (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Indonesia is expected to produce 3.1 million tonnes of rubber in 2016, down slightly from last year.
Chairman of the country’s Rubber Industries Association Moenarji Soedargo said the long dry season has impacted the rubber output in the world’s second largest rubber producer. The rainy season has come, and he expects cultivation and production activities will be back to normal soon.
In February, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to cut down exports of natural rubber latex by 615,000 tonnes for six months from March to reduce supply and increase prices that were at nearly six-year lows.
The three Southeast Asian countries, which turn out over 60 percent of the world’s rubber, said the move would help put an end to a decline in rubber prices, which has “a direct effect on the income of rubber planters” in the nations.
According to The Rubber Economist Ltd, global rubber production will exceed demand in the next two years. It is forecast to decline by 1.3 percent to 12.6 million tonnes, while the output will rise by 3.8 percent to 13 million tonnes in 2016.-VNA
