A new report by MarketReportsOnline says that the global market is currently in its fourth year of surplus of natural rubber. It is expected that global surplus by the year 2020 will be approximately 1 million tons of natural rubber and 3 million tons of synthetic rubber. World demand for natural rubber, which is primarily used to manufacture tyres, is cooling down due to the economic downturn in China.
Asia accounts for 93% of the world natural rubber production with Thailand being the largest producer followed by Indonesia and Vietnam. Other large rubber producers in the region include India, China and Malaysia.
China is the world’s largest consumer of natural rubber followed by India and the United States. Increasing consumption of tyres and industrial rubber products is expected to boost the global demand for natural rubbers. Indonesia is the second largest rubber producer globally behind Thailand. While the industry is faced with challenges such as low production and poor infrastructure, growing rubber demand from developing economies is expected to boost the market in 2015.
Indonesia is the second largest natural rubber producer globally. The industry is currently experiencing oversupply with demand having slowed down particularly from China which is the largest buyer of rubber in the world. Sumatra is the key natural rubber producing area in Indonesia accounting for two-thirds of the rubber latex harvested followed by Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Java. 85% of the rubber producers are smallholders and they contribute 81% to the national output. Actively supporting the sector, the International Rubber Consortium, which is a body representing rubber producers Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, has recently recommended the commodity not be sold at the current low prices.
The report ‘Assessment of Indonesia’s Rubber Industry Analysis 2015’ highlights key dynamics of Indonesia’s rubber sector. The potential of the sector has been investigated along with key challenges. The current market scenario and future prospects of the sector has also been studied. The report contains profiles of key players including Bridgestone Corp, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental A.G. and Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.