Vietnam’s rubber sector anticipates to gain US$4.5 billion profit from rubber exports in 2013, higher than the figures recorded in 2012 (US$4.26 billion), according to the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA).
Rubber now ranks eighth among the country’s top export commodities after garment and textiles, telephones, crude oil, electronics products, footwear, seafood and machinery.
Vietnamese rubber output stands at about 1.7 tonnes of latex per hectare, worth 105 million VND (US$4.976), ranking third after India and Thailand, according to the association.
VRA exported 710,000 tonnes of rubber in the first nine months of 2013, earning US$1.68 billion, a decrease of 1.2% in volume and 17.8% in value year on year.
So far, the average rubber export price reached US$2,393/tonne, down 17.68% compared to the same period last year.
China is the biggest consumer of Vietnamese rubber exports, accounting for 42.7% of the country’s total export value, followed by Malaysia with 21.2%.