Natural rubber production in Thailand is likely to drop in 2014 due to political upheaval and as a sharp fall in prices prompts farmers to curtail tapping, a senior official at the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) told Reuters on Thursday.
The drop in natural rubber production in the world’s top producer would help a rebound in rubber prices that are sitting not far off multi-year lows.
“Because of political uncertainty there would be definitely some decrease in production there. The price of rubber coming down, that is also affecting tapping,” Kamarul Baharain bin Basir, secretary general of the ANRPC, said on the sidelines of the India Rubber Meet in the southern city of Kochi.
Thailand’s natural rubber production for 2013 was estimated at 4 million tonnes.
Despite the drop in Thailand’s production, total output of ANRPC member countries would rise marginally as Vietnam and India are seen producing a record, he said.
The ANRPC, whose members account for 92 percent of global production, pegged total output of member countries at 11 million tonnes in 2013. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Krishna N Das)
Source: Reuters
Published: 20 Feb 2014