Alibaba is working with the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAT) to provide an auction system for Chinese buyers of Thai rubber in China. They anticipate annual sales of at least 200,000 tonnes.
Nakorn Tangavirapat, deputy governor of the RAT, said that officials of Alibaba Group visited the RAT offices to ask it to gather and certify sources of natural rubber supply for its online auction project.
The e-commerce venture is designed to let buyers in China bid for Thai natural rubber from the convenience of their own homeland. In response, the RAT said farmers’ organisations would be able to supply quality rubber and meet Chinese demand, Nakorn said.
Officials will select a location to install the online auction system and configure software to meet the demands of Chinese buyers, making available a wide range of Thai natural rubber products – including rubber sheets, smoked rubber, block rubber and cup lumps.
With China being a huge rubber purchaser, the project will hopefully help stabilise the prices of Thai rubber and raise local rubber prices for the benefits of Thai growers.