Thailand has sold 98,000 tonnes of rubber, including block rubber and smoked rubber sheets, from state stockpiles worth over 6.64 billion baht (US$187.57 million), according to the country’s rubber authority.
The rubber sold in the first state auction of the year came from 26 state warehouses, said Titus Suksaard, governor of the Rubber Authority of Thailand.
The sale comes as Thailand, the world’s biggest rubber producer and exporter, has suffered from flash floods in its southern provinces, the country’s main rubber-growing region, which have killed 45 people and halted the rubber tapping season.
Global rubber prices have spiked on concern about the impact. Thailand’s rubber prices are also expected to rise this year due to scant flood-hit supply.
After the sale, Thailand still has about 212,000 tonnes of rubber in state stockpiles, down from 310,000 tonnes.
Thailand’s military government started buying rubber from farmers as prices started declining in 2014.
The government plans to clear the remaining stocks within this year, said Chao Songarvut, deputy governor of the Rubber Authority.