IRCo to defend rubber price at 110 U.S. cents<\/p>\n
Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Three major producing countries are preparing to intervene in the
\nmarket to help stabilize the sagging price of rubber, according
\nto an official.<\/p>\n
The Committee on Strategic Market Operations (CSMO), set up on
\nJuly 26 by Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, will step in to
\nensure that rubber prices do not fall below 110 U.S. cents per
\nkilogram.<\/p>\n
\"Should the market price touch the preference price of 110
\ncents, the CSMO will intervene in the market by buying and
\nholding the commodity as a buffer stock,\" said Association of
\nIndonesian Rubber Producers (Gapkindo) executive director
\nSoeharti Honggokusumo on Friday.<\/p>\n
Soeharti said that the committee would meet on Monday in
\nBangkok to discuss the details of the plan.<\/p>\n
The three countries formed a grouping called the International
\nRubber Consortium Limited (IRCo) last year in a bid to push
\nrubber prices higher. IRCo, which then set up the CSMO, has
\nsufficient funds to undertake market operations.<\/p>\n
According to Soeharti, the planned measure was part of the
\neffort to avoid any reoccurrence of the traumatic event of 2001,
\nwhen the rubber price crashed to a 30-year low of 45 cents. The
\nprice bounced back in late 2002 to reach 130 cents, but has been
\nsteadily declining since then to date. The price of the commodity
\non Friday stood at 112.5 cents, while the highest price in the
\nlast ten years was in 1995, when it stood at 155 cents.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the second largest natural rubber producer in the
\nworld after Thailand. Producing 1.79 million tons in 2003,
\nIndonesia exported 91 percent of national production.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/irco-to-defend-rubber-price-at-110-us-cents-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}