Rubber price rebounds to K1,600 per pound

The price of rubber rose again to over K1,600 per pound in Mon State’s rubber market.
The prices touched a high of K1,520 per pound of Ribbed Smoked Sheet Local 3 and K1,500 for sun-dried rubber on 3 November.
The prevailing prices increased to K1,660 per pound for sundried rubber and K1,640 for RSS Local 3. The figures showed a three-week rise of over K140 per pound. Yet, the price level has not reached a record high of K1,790 per pound of RSS3 and K1,770 per pound of sundried rubber.
Global demand for rubber, rubber production in the Southeast Asian nations and the market supply contribute to Myanmar’s rubber prices.
Traders elaborated that the rubber price in Mon State, a significant rubber production state in Myanmar, is also closely tied to those factors.
Myanmar’s annual rubber production is estimated at 300,000 tonnes. 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.
The association aims to achieve rubber exports of 300,000 tonnes in the 2023-2024 financial year beginning 1 April.
The rubber production in the last FY 2022-2023 reached over 360,000 tonnes, and more than 200,000 tonnes of rubber were shipped to foreign trade partners.
Rubber is commonly produced in Mon and Kayin states and Taninthayi, Bago, and Yangon regions. 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.
Myanmar bagged more than US$449.102 million in revenue in rubber exports in the 2020-2021 FY. — NN/EM