Sumatra rubber exports up

JAKARTA (JP): The value of North Sumatra's natural rubber exports for the first seven months of this year increased 23.6 percent to US$29.3 million from US$ 23.7 million for the same period last year, according to the province's bureau of statistics.

The bureau said yesterday the province's natural rubber exports rose to 16,410 tons in the January-July period from 14,370 tons for the corresponding period of 1995.

The province exports rubber to 11 countries including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the European Union.

The United States is the province's biggest natural rubber importer, buying 13.456 tons worth $24.7 million in the Jan-July period.

North Sumatra, with 532,828 hectares of rubber plantations, produced around 355,858 tons of natural rubber last year. (01)