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Rubber exports well on target
The rubber industry this year was well on its way to meeting the annual target of exporting 650,000 tonnes, worth US$1.1 billion, said general secretary of the Viet Nam Rubber Association (VRA) Tran Thi Thuy Hoa.
Hoa forecast that from now to the year's end, export rubber prices will increase again after three quarters due to a downward trend caused by the global economic downturn.
Global rubber prices will rise thanks to increased crude oil prices and rising rubber demand in the industrial sector, factors that will help the rubber industry achieve its annual target", Hoa said.
Moreover, experts also said that rubber prices would surge in the remaining months of the year as rubber output among the world's largest rubber producers has sharply reduced compared with last year. Three major global rubber producers - Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia - have decided to cut exports by 700,000 tonnes.
The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries also reported that global rubber output this year was expected to decline by roughly 4.8 per cent to 9.4 million tonnes, a 16-year record low.
After months of downward moving prices, export rubber prices have surged since September and reached $1,840 per tonne last month. In the first six months of the year, a tonne of rubber was only $1,500.
The country in the first 10 months of the year exported nearly 540,000 tonnes of rubber worth $823 million, a 2.5 per cent increase in volume but a 41.2 per cent decrease in value.
Experts have called on investment on the country's rubber industry, saying that the global rubber prices will increase by roughly 19 per cent in late next year to $2,000-2,500 per tonne thanks to the rising demand in the global automobile industry, especially in China.
However, VRA's Hoa said that the rubber industry was badly in need of foreign investment to improve added value.
Hoa said that despite a Government decision in 2005 to encourage the production and processing of rubber, not much headway had been made. The industry still churned out raw and semi-processed rubber products, resulting in low export earnings.
Companies produce mostly tyres and inner tubes for bicycles and automobiles.
Hoa blamed this on the lack of capital and outdated technology.
"But many companies are now looking for foreign tie-ups in rubber planting and processing", she said.
vietnamnet, vietnamnews
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