Vietnam ’s rubber sector will enjoy a surplus in 2010 thanks to the higher price of rubber exports, said an official of the Vietnam Rubber Group.

Le Quang Thung, acting Chairman of the VRG’s Board of Members has said that the price of rubber on the world market has increased continuously from the start of this year, averaging 2,767 USD per tonne in the first nine months of the year.

In the two remaining months of this year, rubber prices are forecast to remain high or even rises further as the global economy recovers and the demand for natural rubber for the automobile industry increases. Meanwhile, the world’s major rubber producers such as Thailand , Indonesia and Malaysia have experienced inclement weather conditions.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam shipped 603,000 tonnes of rubber, earning 1.67 billion USD, in the first ten months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 7.7 percent in volume and 92.5 percent in value.

With this growth, Vietnam is predicted to earn 2 billion USD from rubber exports by the end of this year, 500 million USD more than the targeted figure./.