Last month’s results mean the country exported 424,000 tons of rubber in the first five months of the year, bringing in US$620 million, up 17.4% in volume but down nearly 20% in value on the corresponding period last year.

 

Meanwhile, according to statistics from Vietnam Customs, exports of most kinds of rubber during the first four months of the year saw growth compared to the same period last year, with SVR 3L up 14.3%, SVR 10 up 54.2%, RSS 3 up 66.2%, and SVR CV60 up 4.5%. Exports of synthetic rubber amounted to 163,880 tons valued at US$238.04 million, making up 49.4% of total rubber exports. However, export prices for rubber dropped sharply in the period, with SVR 5 down 30.8%, synthetic rubber down 28.7%, and SVR 3L down 26.7%.

 

Rubber prices on the world market began to rise in May due to a forecast of increased demand from China and India, which consume 48% of the global volume of natural rubber. Correspondingly, the prices of rubber latex in the Vietnamese provinces of Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, and Tay Ninh also surged upwards.

 

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) predicted the global output of natural rubber to reach 14.2 million tons this year, a year-on-year rise of 6.4%, while consumption volume is forecast to increase 6.4% to 14.3 million tons.