Rubber exports bounce back

During November, rubber exports stood at over 199,000 tonnes, with a value of approximately US$262 million, an increase of 10.8 per cent in volume and 17.1 percent in value on-year.

Throughout the first 11 months of the year, the country shipped a total of 1.5 million tonnes of rubber abroad, worth US$2.02 billion, up 8 percent in volume and up 7.7 per cent in value.

The country's export price of rubber was recorded at an average of US$1,316 per tonne in November, an increase of 1.3 per cent in comparison to the previous month and a rise of 5.8 percent over last year's same period.

Indeed, December 2018 saw the average export price plummet to approximately US$1,200 per tonne. However, since the start of the year rubber prices have been undergoing a gradual recovery, reaching peaks of US$1,443 per tonne in May.

Despite this period of growth, the export price of rubber suffered drops between May and October to approximately US$1,300 per tonne, eventually recovering with a rebound in the export price of rubber latex.

China remained as the nation’s largest rubber export market, with the northern neighbour importing 149,750 tonnes of rubber with a value of US$195.59 million during November, accounting for 75.2 per cent of the country’s total volume of rubber exports.

The first 11 months of the year saw rubber exports to China reach 1.04 million tonnes, worth a total of US$1.34 billion, representing an increase of 10 per cent in volume and up 9.8 per cent from the same period last year.

Aside from China, several of the country’s rubber export markets experienced an upward trend in volume throughout the reviewed period, including India (up 29.7 per cent), the Republic of Korea (up 26.1 per cent), Brazil (up 21.6 per cent), and Bangladesh (up 48.4 per cent).

Most notably, India imported 115,150 tonnes of rubber with a value of US$172.7 million from Vietnam from during the first 10 months of the year, posting a 44.1 per cent increase in volume and 42.3 per cent rise in value.

During the first two weeks of December, global rubber prices increased in comparison with the end of November and are forecast to continue their upward trend.

According to experts, the recent increase in rubber prices can be attributed to the concern of the decrease in the supply source after several leading rubber producers have considered limiting rubber exports as a means of stabilizing the price.