Bangkok – Vietnam, currently the world’s third largest producer of natural rubber after Thailand and Indonesia, is to join the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), according to a council communique.
From left: Enggartiasto Lukita, Indonesian minister of trade, Chatchai Sarikulya, Thai minister of agriculture and Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, Malaysia’s minister of plantation industries and commodities
Current members of the ITRC, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, held a ministerial meeting in Bangkok on 15 Sept where they agreed the move.
As reported by ERJ in 2015, Vietnam agreed to join the ITRC to help stabilise NR prices and develop sustainable production.
With Vietnam on board, the council will produce up to 80% of the world’s natural rubber consumption – up from around 70% previously.
Also discussed during the meeting was the future direction of ITRC Regional Rubber Market (RRM) as a platform for better price discovery for both dry and wet rubber.
The RRM, said the release, will be developed as a futures market.
“To complement and support the operation of RRM, the member countries will establish IRCo Arbitration Centre,” the release added without giving further details.
The ministers also took note that the NR prices in the second quarter of 2017 were out of step with market fundamentals.
The prices, said the communique, “were not reflective of the strong demand, and reduction in supply contributed by erratic weather patterns and smallholders switching to other crops or other economic activities.”
