Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam earned 220 million USD from shipping 175,000 tonnes of rubber abroad in January, up 10.8 percent in value and 28.9 percent in volume compared to the same month last year.
Experts predict further growth in rubber exports this year with global demand set to rise 4.2 percent to 14.59 million tonnes, while total output is forecast at 14.84 million tonnes.
The domestic rubber industry will also benefit from the increase of crude oil prices to push rubber prices up.
However, Chairman of the Rubber Plastic Manufacturer Association Nguyen Quoc Anh said high stock levels could exert pressure on rubber suppliers.
Further, demand growth in China, which accounts for 40 percent of global consumption, slowed to 3.2 percent from 5.3 percent in 2018 and 7.5 percent in 2017 on the country’s economic downturn.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry and Trade believed that rubber exports to India were unlikely to see strong expansion like in 2018 as domestic rubber supply is bouncing back, and the Indian government is carrying out measures to support rubber farmers, including increasing import taxes.
Last year, Vietnam sold 102,920 tonnes of rubber in India and earned 145.39 million USD, up 85.6 percent in quantity and 60.5 percent in value from the previous year.-VNA
