Workers are back at Cambodian plantations and the sector is imbuedwith a rare sense of optimism because of the sharp recovery in international rubber prices, a recent report says.
According to Hang Sreng, director of rubber exporting company Long Sreng International, rubber prices in the local market are responding to the growing prices on foreign commodities exchanges which is a positive sign for their rubber sector.International rubber prices began its rise in March from seven-year lows and have seen an upswing of 16% since the start of April on concerns over output and expected pickup in demand from China.
Sreng said that the export price of natural rubber has already risen to US$300 to US$400 per tonne after sliding to around US$1,050 per tonne.
Thy Sambo, president of the TbongKhmum Family Rubber Development Association, says that after months of production time-outs caused by depressed market prices, rubber farmers in TbongKhmum province near the Vietnamese border began tapping trees again. He said that since the price is gradually increasing, the farmers have started hiring workers again to collect rubber latex. This offers a glimpse of hope for rubber farmers who tore down their plantations, gave up on rubber farming, and started planting other crops after experiencing years of disappointment.
In recent months, the price for natural rubber sheets that the farmers are getting rose from about 1,000Cambodian riel (KHR) per kilogram to 2,600 Cambodian riel per kilogram, according to SeangSarat, vice president of the Memot Family Rubber Development Association. Sarat also said that the rising prices have brought a flood of Vietnamese traders across the border. Farmers are turning their latex into sheet rubber. They prefer to sell these to Vietnamese traders than to local factories because the traders show up at their door with better pricing offers.
Source: Phnom Penh Post