Thailand pledges not to sell rubber at lower-than-cost prices
Thai rubber exporters have pledged not to sell their products at prices lower than production costs, joining efforts of rubber suppliers in Asia to stop the fall in rubber prices.
Thai rubber exporters have pledged not to sell their products at priceslower than production costs, joining efforts of rubber suppliers inAsia to stop the fall in rubber prices.
According toBloomberg, rubber futures in Tokyo showed a declining trend last monthas stockpiles in China, the world largest rubber consumer, rose to anine-year high.
Meanwhile, the International Rubber StudyGroup (IRSG) forecast that rubber supply will exceed demand in 2014,the fourth year in a row.
However, Thailand ,Indonesia and Malaysia , which produce 70 percent of the worldrubber output, have advised other IRSG member countries against sellingat the current price levels, saying that output of the next crop couldsee a strong decrease.
The International RubberConsortium Limited (IRCo) under the IRSG also said natural rubber pricesare unreasonably low. It said it will propose Thailand , Indonesiaand Malaysia to enhance a collective supply management plan.
In a related development, Malaysia reported that it exported 83,336tonnes of natural rubber in December 2013, up 11.5 percent from oneyear ago. China was the largest importer of Malaysia ’s rubber inthe month with 61.9 percent of the volume, followed by Germany with9.9 percent and the US with 4.9 percent.-VNA
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