Rubber growers rejoicing as price rises despite lower production

The rubber farm owners and tappers from Kawkareik township in Kayin State are delighted with rubber’s hiking price despite lower production caused by poor weather condition this year.
Last year, the sun-dried raw rubber market price was K550 per pound, while the sun-dried rubber was sold for K400 per pound.  However, the prevailing price of sun-dried natural rubber hit K830 per pound while the sun-dried rubber fetched K600 per pound. The rest of the rubber cups are priced at K350 per pound as last year, said a rubber farm owner from Ta Dan Ku village, Kawkareik.
Three weeks ago, at least 10 acres of rubber farmland produced about 40 pounds of rubber latex. At present, the workers are tapping the rubber for three days and get one day off because of heavy rain these days. Therefore, it can produce only 25 pounds of rubber latex. The raw rubber latex sheets are dried for nearly one month. But, there is some difficulty in drying the rubber sheet under the sun because of the heavy rains these days, said a rubber tapper from Ta Dan Ku village of Kawkareik.
Last year, the rubber growers from the villages near Kawkareik town came and sold about 20,000 pounds of rubber daily. But, they could sell only 10,000 pounds of rubber because of rubber latex’s lower production in those villages this year. Those rubbers are sent to the Mandalay region through Kawkareik town, said an official from Kawkareik Rubber Depot explained.
Rubber is primarily produced in Mon and Kayin states and Taninthayi, Bago, and Yangon regions in Myanmar. According to the 2018-2019 rubber season’s data, Myanmar planted over 1.628 million acres of rubber, with Mon State accounting for 497,153 acres, followed by Taninthayi Region 348,344 acres and Kayin State with 270,760 acres.
About 300,000 tonnes of rubber is produced annually across the country. Seventy per cent of rubber made in Myanmar goes to China. It is also shipped to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, the Republic of Korea, India, Japan, and other countries, according to the MRPPA.
Myanmar has exported about 200,000 tonnes of rubber worth around US$240 million in the last FY2019-2020. — Saw Aung Myo Lwin (IPRD)/GNLM