N. Sumatra needs rubber

JAKARTA (JP): At least 11 private rubber makers in North Sumatra are suffering because of a shortage of natural rubber.

The deputy of the Indonesian Rubber Producers Association's provincial chapter, Fauzi Hasbalah, said in Medan yesterday that local rubber makers should buy natural rubber from Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra and other provinces.

North Sumatra produces between 150,000 and 200,000 tons of natural rubber a year while its rubber makers demand over 300,000 tons a year, he said.

Local rubber plantations are producing less because their trees are becoming less productive or are no longer productive.

The association, North Sumatra's plantation agency and a private plantation are jointly developing a high-grade seedlings farm in Palopat, South Tapanuli regency, to overcome this problem, he said.(04)