Vietnam exported 451,000 tonnes of rubber for 832 million USD fromJanuary-July, down 10 percent and 32.3 percent in volume and valuerespectively over the same period last year.
Theexport price of rubber averaged over 1,870 USD per tonne in the firsthalf of this year, 52 percent lower than the level in the same period of2011. Given the fact, Vietnam plans to reduce the export volume to 1million tonne for the entire year, down 7 percent from last year.
China remained the largest market, consuming nearly 40 percent ofVietnam ’s total rubber exports; however, both export volume andvalue to the neighbouring country also saw big decreases during theperiod, according to the Vietnam Rubber Association. Nearly 139,000tonnes of the product were shipped to China , raking in 248 millionUSD, representing a year-on-year reduction of 42.6 percent in value and23.6 percent in volume.
Last year, Vietnamsurpassed Malaysia and India to become the third largest rubberproducer in the world, according to the Association of Natural RubberProducing Countries.
The association reported thatthe country’s rubber output was estimated to hit 1.043 million tonnes,up 20.8 percent from a year earlier.
Thecultivation acreage of the plant has continued to expand, doubling overthe past decade from 450,000 ha in 2003 to 955,000 hectares in 2013.-VNA