Myanmar shipped 114,855 tonnes of rubber to foreign countries in the past nine months of the current financial year 2023-2024, beginning 1 April, bagging US$144.046 million, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar Rubber Association aims to achieve about 300,000 tonnes of rubber export this FY.
The prevailing prices are K1,620 per pound of Ribbed Smoked Sheet Local 3 and K1,600 for sun-dried rubber in Mon State’s rubber market.
Global demand for rubber, rubber production of the Southeast Asian nations and the market supply weigh on Myanmar’s rubber prices.
The traders elaborated that the rubber price in Mon State, a significant rubber production state in Myanmar, is closely tied to those factors as well.
Seventy per cent of rubber produced in Myanmar goes to China. It is also shipped to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, the Republic of Korea, India, Japan, and other countries.
Rubber is commonly produced in Mon and Kayin states and Taninthayi, Bago, and Yangon regions in Myanmar. As per 2018-2019 rubber season data, there are over 1.628 million acres of rubber plantations in Myanmar, with Mon State accounting for 497,153 acres, followed by Taninthayi Region with 348,344 acres and Kayin State with 270,760 acres.
The rubber production in the last FY 2022-2023 exceeded 360,000 tonnes, and over 200,000 tonnes of rubber were shipped to foreign trade partners. — NN/EM
