Top rubber producers split on export cuts<\/p>\n
Vissuta Pothong, Reuters, Bangkok<\/p>\n
Exporters and officials from the world's top rubber producers,
\nThailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have wrapped up a closed-door
\nmeeting divided on whether to cut export quotas to boost prices,
\nofficials said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"The governing council of the International Tri-Partite Rubber
\nCouncil (ITRC) meeting discussed several issues, including
\nimplementation of what we have earlier agreed in principle,\"
\nPrasat Kesawapitak, director of Rubber Research Institute of
\nThailand, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The ITRC comprises senior officials and private exporters from
\nThailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for almost 80
\npercent of the world's natural rubber production.<\/p>\n
Ministers from the three countries agreed last December to cut
\noutput by four percent and exports by 10 percent starting this
\nyear to try to boost rubber prices, which fell late last year to
\n30-year lows below 50 U.S. cents\/kg.<\/p>\n
But the ITRC members were split on whether to formally cut
\nexport quotas to match the commitment, with Prasat saying
\nMalaysia and Thailand were hesitant.<\/p>\n
\"Malaysia did not mention how to cut exports by 10 percent,
\nthey just said that the country's rubber exports are already
\nsmall,\" Prasat said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, which said it planned to give farmers money to
\nreplant with new trees to cut output, produces around 600,000
\ntons of rubber a year with production already declining in recent
\nyears leading to increasing imports.<\/p>\n
It takes around seven years for rubber tapping to start again
\nafter replanting.<\/p>\n
Thai benchmark RSS3 rubber was quoted at around 60 U.S.
\ncents\/kg this week.<\/p>\n
Thailand, the largest producer, was also hesitant on cutting
\nquotas, saying exports were falling naturally anyway through
\nmeasures it was taking to reduce output.<\/p>\n
\"We have told the meeting that we plan to replant 56,000
\nhectares (140,000 acres) starting from this year in order to cut
\noutput,\" Prasat told Reuters.<\/p>\n
\"However, we do not think it is necessary for the time being
\nto cut exports as we already forecast that the country's exports
\nthis year would be lower than previous years, at around 1.97
\nmillion tons, due to the global economic slowdown.\"<\/p>\n
Thailand, the world's top rubber producer and export, has
\naround 160,000 hectares (400,000 acres) of rubber plantations
\nproducing around 2.4 million tons of natural rubber each year, of
\nwhich two million tons are usually exported.<\/p>\n
Indonesia informed the meeting that it would start allocating
\nexport quotas of 1.23 million tons to exporters from February 1
\nas part of the plan to cut exports by 10 percent, Prasat said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, the world's second largest rubber exporter,
\nproduces around 1.55 million tons a year.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has also said it will cut rubber output by 60,000
\ntons this year.<\/p>\n
The three Asian countries have been meeting to find ways to
\nshore up prices since the International Natural Rubber
\nOrganization (INRO) collapsed in 1999, but without much success.<\/p>\n
Prasat said the meeting selected a new ITRC chairman, but he
\ndeclined to release the name.<\/p>\n
Sources told Reuters Indonesia and Malaysia did not nominate
\ncandidates, and Thailand nominated an executive from Teck Bee
\nHang, a leading exporting firm.<\/p>\n
Some Thai bureaucrats preferred Sanit Samosorn, a publisher of
\nThe Rubber magazine, who was a director at the Rubber Research
\nInstitute of Thailand.<\/p>\n
The next ITRC meeting is scheduled for April in Bangkok.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/top-rubber-producers-split-on-export-cuts-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }