Top rubber growers postpone meeting<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the
\nworld's top three rubber producers, indefinitely postponed a
\nmeeting this week to discuss ways of boosting prices as the new
\nThai government needs time to study a plan which may need state
\nfunding, officials said.<\/p>\n
The meeting was scheduled in Bangkok March 29. The three
\ncountries produce four fifths of the world's natural rubber, used
\nto make tires, gloves and condoms.<\/p>\n
The plan involves spending of money, and the Thai government
\nis reluctant to commit any new spending, said a senior official
\nat Thailand's Rubber Research Institute, the government's rubber
\nplanning agency, who didn't want to be named. An official of the
\nMalaysian Rubber Board, who didn't want to be named, confirmed
\nthe postponement.<\/p>\n
Thailand's general election in January led to a change in
\ngovernment. The new cabinet, led by Thaksin Shinawatra, indicated
\nduring his election campaign he may be less eager to help rubber
\ngrowers. His Thai Rak Thai party won only one seat in the rubber-
\ngrowing provinces in southern Thailand which is the main base for
\nthe opposition Democrat Party headed by former Prime Minister
\nChuan Leekpai.<\/p>\n
The countries have been discussing a plan to fix a minimum
\nprice per kilogram for rubber to be sold in Southeast Asia, the
\nofficials said earlier. Rubber prices have dropped by a quarter
\nin the past five months and are close to a 30-year low.<\/p>\n
Still, the rubber producers haven't said whether they will
\nbuild stockpiles of the material to ensure the minimum price,
\nsimilar to a plan by major coffee exporters.<\/p>",
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