Rubber prices on upward trend

Rubber prices continued to rise to over K1,700 per pound in Mon State’s rubber market.
The prices peaked at K1,745 per pound of Ribbed Smoked Sheet Local 3 and K1,730 for sun-dried rubber on 26 January.
The prices hit K1,610 per pound for sun-dried rubber and K1,630 for RSS Local 3 in early January.
The figures reflected an increase of K115-125 per pound over the past three weeks.
The prices hit a high of K1,770 per pound of sun-dried rubber and K1,790 for RSS Local 3.
Global demand for rubber, rubber production of the Southeast Asian nations and the market supply is positively related to 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.
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.
Myanmar shipped 114,855 tonnes of rubber with an estimated US$144.046 million as of 29 December in the current financial year 2023-2024 FY 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 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.
Myanmar generated more than $449.102 million in revenue in rubber exports in the 2020-2021 FY. — NN/EM