In line with recent reports and rising concerns over the quality of rubber produced in the north and northeast regions of Thailand, the country’s Prime Minister, Payut Chan-o-cha has given a mandate for the local related agencies to work out strategic plans to upgrade the quality of block rubber and to sway farmers from putting sulphuric acid in the latex.
Titus Suksaard, governor of the Rubber Authority of Thailand, said the prime minister chaired the National Rubber Policy Committee and instructed responsible agencies including the authority to tackle the sulphuric acid issue after major tyremakers threatened to stop buying rubber from Thai farmers because of its low quality.
North and northeast farmers normally put a drop of sulphuric acid in the rubber latex to speed up the coagulation process before selling it as cup lumps to rubber factories.
But the rubber’s flexibility is reduced by the sulphuric acid, which causes problems on processing lines for tyremakers, forcing them to change the substance mixing ratio, which raises production costs.
According to Titus, the Rubber Authority of Thailand has been urging farmers for a year now to use formic acid instead, which is an organic and environmentally friendly substance that helps improve the quality of rubber.
Around 60% of the rubber farmers still use sulphuric acid while only 40% has shifted to using formic acid. Since formic acid is quoted to be at 0.32 Baht per kg and sulphuric acid is at 0.15 Baht per kg, the authority pledged to offer better prices to farmers who use formic acid. It is also asking for cooperation from related agencies to label products that use formic acid, Titus added.
He said the government may need to set aside a subsidy in the short term to attract farmers to use formic acid.
Veerasith Sincharoenkul, an executive committee member for Sri Trang Agro-Industry Co, confirmed that the company has not stopped buying sulphuric acid cup lumps. However, networks of rubber farmers in the northeast threatened to boycott Sri Trang and discourage farmers from buying tyres from Michelin and Bridgestone after reports of tyremakers halting natural rubber orders circulated.
According to Veerasak Sinthuwong, a key member of the Network of Thai Rubber Farmers, cup lumps make up 80% of rubber produced in the northeast and latex accounts for 20%. Most cup lumps are processed in the form of STR20 rubber, shipped mainly to China. This type of rubber is processed into other products, not tyres.
Veerasak said farmers use sulphuric acid when collecting latex during the rainy season to make it coagulate more quickly, otherwise the latex would be damaged if rainwater contaminated it.