Bush fires may hurt rubber output: INRO

Bush fires may hurt rubber output: INRO

TOKYO (Reuter): Raging bush fires in Indonesia may have hurt
natural rubber production in Southeast Asia, but it is hard to
assess the damage at present, an official of the International
Natural Rubber Organization (INRO) said yesterday.

"We have not received (reports) on what extent the haze
damaged production of rubber, but there might be some effect,"
INRO executive director Ahmad Zubeir Noordin told a news
conference in Tokyo.

Asked about the impact of a severe drought Indonesia is
suffering on natural rubber production, Zubeir said it was too
early to judge now, but he would get better idea of rubber
production levels for this year when INRO holds a council meeting
next month.

Indonesia's bush fires have destroyed an estimated 750,000
hectares of land on Sumatra and Kalimantan, triggering a choking
haze which has hit Singapore and Malaysia and drifted as far as
Thailand and the Philippines.

Indonesian government officials said earlier this week the
smog is expected to lift this month with the beginning of the
monsoon season.

Japanese rubber futures prices have been supported by concern
that the fires and the drought might have a negative impact on
natural rubber production.

Zubeir also said global supplies of natural rubber currently
surpass world demand, and INRO tries to balance supply and demand
by helping boost rubber demand.

INRO is an international body established for the purpose of
stabilizing natural rubber prices.