Vietnam exported 118,560 mt of natural rubber in August, edging up 5.75% year on year and rising 12.4% from July, data released Wednesday by Vietnam Customs showed.
The value of the exports, however, fell 11.6% year on year to $167 million in August but rose 7.1% month on month.
China remained the top buyer of Vietnamese natural rubber in August with 61,013 mt, up 17.6% year on year, followed by Malaysia at 18,203 mt, down 18.6% from the same month last year, and India at 5,819 mt, down 46.6% over the same period.
Over January-August, Vietnam exported 639,560 mt of natural rubber, up 12.4% from the same period last year. The exports in the period were worth $928 million, down 9.6% year on year.
The main destinations for Vietnamese natural rubber over January-August included China 308,827 mt, up 33% year on year; Malaysia 106,616 mt, down 4.4%; and India 46,017 mt, down 5.2%.
The average export price of Vietnamese natural rubber in the first eight months of this year stood at $1,458/mt, falling 19.2% year on year, the Vietnam Rubber Association said in a statement September 11.
Vietnam is one of the major suppliers of natural rubber in the world. It exported more than 1 million mt of natural rubber last year, up 0.2% from 2013, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said earlier this year.