Rubber fetches about K1,400 per pound during tapping season

The price of rubber stands at around K1,400 per pound during the tapping season, rubber traders said.
The sun-dried rubber sheet (Local 3) is priced at K1,470 per pound while Ribbed Smoked Sheet (Local 3) is worth K1,390 per pound, according to Mawlamyine Commodity Centre.
Last year, the price of rubber was only K1,000 when the tapping season commenced. This year, the prices of rubber were K1,400-1,500 per pound.
Starting from the third week of September, rubber sap collection businesses have begun. Yet, rubber farm owners are facing shortages of skilled workers and low yield during the beginning of the season, the farm owners said.
Global demand for rubber, rubber production of the Southeast Asian nations and their market supply are contributing factors to the rubber price condition of Myanmar.
The rubber price in Mon State, a major rubber producing state in Myanmar, is positively related to those facts as well, the traders elaborated.
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. About 300,000 tonnes of rubber are produced annually across the country.
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.
Myanmar bagged more than US$449 million in revenue in rubber exports in the previous financial year 2020-2021. — NN/GNLM