The Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA) expected the country’s rubber exports to register a 5.5-10% year-on-year growth for 2016 and hit 1.2 to 1.25 million tonnes. But Vietnam’s rubber export industry exceeded expectations when it hit 1.26 million tonnes with a value of US$1.67 billion in 2016, up 10.6% in volume and 9% in value.
Vo Hoang An, VRA’s deputy chairman and general secretary, spoke last month in a press conference to introduce the fifth International Exhibition on Rubber Industry and Tyre Manufacturing (Rubber and Tyre Vietnam) in Ho Chi Minh City. During the press conference, he said the country had exported 1.12 million tonnes of raw rubber worth US$1.45 billion in the first 11 months of 2016.
The global market faced severe difficulties caused by a relentless decline in prices in recent years as supply outstripped demand, he said.
Vietnam ranked third globally in output and fourth in exports, he said. The organisation only expected production to top 1.04 million tonnesin 2016.
China and Malaysia were the biggest consumers of Vietnam rubber in 2016, making up 66.6% of total export value in the first 11 months.
According to Tran Th? Thuy Hoa, head of VRA’s advisory board for rubber development, many countries have reduced rubber production by reducing exploitation and chopping down rubber trees for replanting or growing other trees.
The lower output has pushed up rubber prices in the last two months of 2016, which brought hope to export firms and farmers, she said.
Rubber processing firms, whose exports of rubber products are going up year after year, have benefited from the fall in prices, An said.
Vietnam earned US$1.42 billion from export of products such as tyres, rubber accessories and conveyors in 2015, accounting for 39% of the industry’s total export revenues, he said, adding that tyre exports are growing at 14% a year, and reached US$523.4 million in 2015.
Nguyen Quoc Anh, chairman of the Rubber-Plastic Manufacturers Association, said the country’s exports of rubber products are worth just a tenth of Thailand or Malaysia.
Vietnamese firms are urged to invest more in processing technologies and seek new buyers for their products. He also added that the Rubber and Tyre Vietnam, an international exhibition, would help them get up-to-date on technologies and products and build new relationships.
To be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre from June 13 to 15 this year, the exhibition will see more than 80 local and international exhibitors displaying their latest equipment, technologies, products and services.
There will be conferences and seminars at the three-day exhibition, according to the Minh Vi Exhibition and Advertisement Services Co., Ltd, one of the organisers. A rubber sourcing fair will be held for the first time to enable Vietnamese tyre and rubber producers and foreign buyers to compare notes and explore business opportunities.