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Nation to expand rubber cultivation area
Viet Nam is still planning to expand its rubber-growing area, despite the recent drop in the export price of rubber latex fuelled by the world economic slowdown.
Plans call to expand the growing area to 700,000ha by 2010, up from 522,000ha, including 100,000ha in the Central Highlands and 15,000ha each in the south-eastern region, the central region and the north-western region.
These figures were announced earlier last week, at a conference that reviewed 10 years of implementation of the Prime Minister's decision 84/ TTg. The decision had provided a road map for the development of Viet Nam's rubber industry.
Currently, the export price of rubber latex has dropped by 50 per cent compared to the beginning of the year, but most participants at the conference agreed that they should continue developing rubber plantations despite low sales prices.
Viet Nam Rubber Industries Group general director Le Quang Thung said that domestic rubber latex sold at an average price of VND38 million (US$2,261) per tonne this year, which meant that enterprises were still making VND10 million ($595) after production costs.
Thung denied the rumour that the group's affiliates were selling rubber latex below cost.
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Vietnamese group to plant rubber in Laos |
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VIENTIANE - The Lao government has granted a license to Viet Nam's Hoang Anh-Gia Lai Group (HAGL) to plant rubber trees on 10,000ha in the Lao province of Attapeu.
Lao Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Thongmy Phomvixay and HAGL's Chairman Doan Nguyen Duc signed a contract to this effect in the capital of Vientiane last Thursday.
The new rubber plantation project is expected to provide 3,800 jobs for locals with an average income of between $150-170 per month.
HAGL has planted 5,000ha of rubber in Lao since 2005 and intends to build two rubber processing factories with a capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year in Attapeu Province by 2012. |
The director, however, warned that the next two years would prove to be difficult times for the local rubber industry, and confirmed that the group would ensure its production and exports even if the export price fell to VND12 million per tonne.
While agreeing to the plan to increase acreage, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, proposed that they reconsider the 2010 deadline to reach 700,000ha.
The minister also suggested that they replace the ageing rubber trees with new strains to encourage higher yields. He stressed the need to organise trade promotion activities, and encourage firms to focus on, technical innovation to improve rubber quality.
Phat noted that they must prioritise economic value and environmental protection while developing rubber plantations.
Representatives from the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces of Gia Lai, Dak Lak, and Dak Nong spoke of legal issues and concerns relating to environmental protection that stemmed from turning forests into rubber plantations.
They asked the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to address those issues and remove any obstacles that might hinder this work, so that the plan to increase the nation's rubber-growing acreage to 700,000ha could be achieved with minimum impact on the environment.
The country has generated $1.4 billion from rubber exports over the past 10 months, up 28 per cent from last year. It hopes to post $1.8 billion in rubber exports by the year's end.
Viet Nam News
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