Rubber Trees

[thoongfoned]

side note. have spoken with afew local men that have recently been working down in the rayong (spelling) area cutting down mature rubber plantations, loads of work about doing this at present. day money about 500 baht, must be heavy work.

[thaiguzzi]

A couple of good, interesting posts.

My thoughts on the following, although i'm not super genned up on tapioca prices or production.

# Still think rubber is a better farm product than tapioca, price wise.

# You will not get 20,000kgs per annum from 26 rai. Not until the trees reach at least full maturity, ie 15 years old.

# If the price got back to 40 baht per kg for cup, we would be laughing as would our tappers.

# Auction prices this season has never fallen below high 24's. Gate prices have run anywhere between 19 and 22 baht.

# Absolutely no problem finding good tappers to work in this area of Udon, many of them locals who have returned from tapping in the south, fed up with "Southerners" as bosses. Last year when the price went below 20, we went to a 55/45% split to help the tappers. This year we've gone back to 60/40%, none have complained, and fully understand.

# Just sacked today our newest staff who've tapped this season so far, the woman was fine, but her husband was just a lazy useless *#*#. Got new staff lined up already, in fact a choice of.

[thaiguzzi]

Oh, and excellent news chopping down trees, new or old. Excellent. Keep chopping boys!!

I see a lot of big trucks here nowadays with rubber lumber on board.

When the prices were high and everybody jumped on the bandwagon up here in Isaan, many smallholders, say 10 rai, thought oh it's just like most crops, like Eucalyptus  etc, easy peasy, not much work, not much money, thought just stick the trees in, wait 5 or 6 years and then we can get rich, in between doing very little on upkeep or putting proper money in on correct fertilizers. Hence the abundance of crappy looking 5-6 year old trees round here.

[thaiguzzi]

Oct-Jan is "high season" for tapping rubber trees in the North and NE, when production figures double or triple.

But, even so, why tap only this period? 7 year onward trees are ready to be tapped 3 weeks after new leaf formation just after Sonkran. Rainy season, my tappers want to tap. Even a daytime tap in between downpours. As soon as that tree is dry tap it. Morning afternoon or pref. middle of the night. A proper rainy season like this year, they may only get 5 taps in in a fortnight, but that is still 10k per month in their pockets and 25-30 in ours...

[Mosha]

If the trunks are dry, my wife taps, then after an hour she runs round with the nam som. If it's less chance of rain, she waits about 3 hours.

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[scotbeve]

On 9/2/2016 at 0:26 PM, thaiguzzi said:

Sold cup at auction yesterday, 24.80 baht per kg.

 

Lucky! Mae Ai, Fang and Chai Prakarn districts are only getting 19 - 20 tops! Still selling all 118 rai worth plus the huge farmhouse with swimming pool... (though my B-In-L is interested in house and rubber plantation behind.....)

Edited September 10, 2016 by scotbeve
Wrong amount of land typed in ... fingers!

[scotbeve]

On 9/9/2016 at 3:49 PM, thaiguzzi said:

Oh, and excellent news chopping down trees, new or old. Excellent. Keep chopping boys!!

I see a lot of big trucks here nowadays with rubber lumber on board.

When the prices were high and everybody jumped on the bandwagon up here in Isaan, many smallholders, say 10 rai, thought oh it's just like most crops, like Eucalyptus  etc, easy peasy, not much work, not much money, thought just stick the trees in, wait 5 or 6 years and then we can get rich, in between doing very little on upkeep or putting proper money in on correct fertilizers. Hence the abundance of crappy looking 5-6 year old trees round here.

 

I bet a few of more of you guys hanging onto the rubber plantations are thinking the same. Wait and see what happens.....  I wish you all good luck. This "government" doesn't make it easier does it????

4 minutes ago, scotbeve said:

Still selling all 118 rai worth plus the huge farmhouse with swimming pool... (though my B-In-L is interested in house and rubber plantation behind.....)

I've waited long enough and bought a lot of this land waaaay back when. There's my profit. Done.

[thoongfoned]

On ‎9‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 3:56 PM, thaiguzzi said:

Oct-Jan is "high season" for tapping rubber trees in the North and NE, when production figures double or triple.

But, even so, why tap only this period? 7 year onward trees are ready to be tapped 3 weeks after new leaf formation just after Sonkran. Rainy season, my tappers want to tap. Even a daytime tap in between downpours. As soon as that tree is dry tap it. Morning afternoon or pref. middle of the night. A proper rainy season like this year, they may only get 5 taps in in a fortnight, but that is still 10k per month in their pockets and 25-30 in ours...

over the last few years i tried by myself and then also got the "boss" on the case on getting the trees working a full year, so to speak. always get the same yes yes yes will do ect... but they never do..... always tomorrow - next week ect...  around the wifes village their must be say 5 to 10 mature rubber plantations and loads  of others in the not to far distance, no one taps around here till the months mentioned above.  to me it crazy but it is just how they do it.

over the years "we" have bought and sold afew plots with rubber trees on. buy them young, bring them on and then have sold them on when they are almost ready to tap, done ok out if this in the past. the last plot we sold was about 6-7 years ago. trees were 8 ish years old and of a good size, on enough land to keep 3 good tappers going per night. i still speak with the man that bought said land, he has never put a knife to even one tree....... always says to me maybe next year.

again in the past the rubber land (chanote title - red paper land) would always be sold for a little more than 100 thousand per rai. even those not a "main" road would get this sort of money on said land title. from what i can make out now (wife dealings - at the land office most months) rubber land said title, goes for the same money as any land ie - rice or sugar or just scrub with title. if you can find buyer 60 ish thousand per rai - if in a hurry as little as 20 -30 per rai. wife bough some land the other day along a road of sorts for 20 per rai.

the wife has had people out to look at her rubber land and the best offer (true offer ie money tomorrow) she has had to date has been 30ish per rai. of course she has not sold but that is the reality of land prices where we are at the mo. "it only worth what you can sell it for," always tell the "boss" this. some you loose some you win......

[thaiguzzi]

Finally got a local price on all that lumber i've seen lately on trucks around here. Old boy just up the road chopped down 7 rai of mature big (25+ years old) trees and got paid 100k...

[thoongfoned]

1 hour ago, thaiguzzi said:

Finally got a local price on all that lumber i've seen lately on trucks around here. Old boy just up the road chopped down 7 rai of mature big (25+ years old) trees and got paid 100k...

does that "fit" with the price you had in your head for your trees one day? i ask because i had not put much thought into said value of lumber, but 220 baht per tree sounds cheap - but having said that it is better then a kick in the balls..........

sold some euca the other day 600 baht a ton, was getting 1200 baht ish per rai, trees that were 4 ish years old, about the 4th time of cutting. this was from the local "shark" guys that buy on sight - then cut down ect...

 

[thaiguzzi]

No, prices for mature lumber have collapsed for some reason over the last 5-6-7 years. I remember back then along the Eastern seaboard, around Chantaburi etc, mature lumber was going for 40-50k per rai. The stuff is excellent for mid range furniture. These trees had come to the end of their working life, they were even using a ladder to tap 2.5m up!

[Mosha]

Over supply of lumber?

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[thoongfoned]

19 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

No, prices for mature lumber have collapsed for some reason over the last 5-6-7 years. I remember back then along the Eastern seaboard, around Chantaburi etc, mature lumber was going for 40-50k per rai. The stuff is excellent for mid range furniture. These trees had come to the end of their working life, they were even using a ladder to tap 2.5m up!

always the same this side of the world - want to sell something, oh the bottom has just fallen out of this industry......... want to buy, oh can sell this a thousand times over, gotta pay over the odds.........

in the past i have been working in the wood furniture business down in indonsia for a good few years,  you can not grow a tree, say 25 - 50 years then only get peanuts for the lumber, it just dont work like that. even the fast growing stuff in vietnam 10 years old return ok money at the farm gate, and this stuff goes in bottom end furniture.

[thaiguzzi]

Sold cup at auction on Wednesday, 24.75 baht per kg.

[Mosha]

We got 25 baht yesterday, best for a long time.
What does crepe look like, I saw some really rough looking sheets, almost wool like, but hard to the touch. About 1 cm thick.

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[thaiguzzi]

Steve,

 sounds like crepe.

Go back a couple of pages, there should be a few pics of us visiting one of the many local crepe factories.

[Mosha]

Steve,

 sounds like crepe.

Go back a couple of pages, there should be a few pics of us visiting one of the many local crepe factories.

Found a video on you tube, that's the stuff. From what I can tell, the buyers here are making their own crepe.

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[thaiguzzi]

To do it properly, there's some proper money to invest in heavy machinery, foundations, lot of water needed, etc etc.

[Mosha]

Where we sold, I think they were making it. I didn't get a good look, but a machine was running, and so was water. The wife sold our rollers last month, they'd been sat idle for a long time.

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[thaiguzzi]

So 25 Baht per kg was for cup or crepe?

[Mosha]

Kee Yang, Mike.

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[thaiguzzi]

Roger.

[danielbkk]

I have a question about then to stop cutting the tribes away ... my trees are around 1.5 years old and have a height of 3-4m already ...
, that they dont grow too fast and to heigh and getting thicker ?

 

 

 

 

[kolohe]

danielbkk,

 

As I understand you trim it up to about 2.5-3m. We did ours closer to 3m, maybe even a littler higher. 

 

BTW, where is your land at? I like those small mountains in the back.

[Mosha]

Sold my at 25 baht, they took it straight round to the crepe machine.

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[danielbkk]

kolohe,

 

thanks for the feedback - its in Laos - Borikamxai area - they growing very well there ...

 

love that area -- with the small hills too

[Mosha]

Kee Yang's at 27 baht down here.

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[Mosha]

Down in Ban Na San, Surat Thank. I wish we'd bought there instead of Ranong. Cousin has over 10 rai of rubber plus access to a 10 rai pond, shared with 2 other properties. That we keep me happy lol.

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[scotbeve]

On 10/14/2016 at 11:59 AM, Mosha said:

Kee Yang's at 27 baht down here.

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It's about 23.5 - 24 in Mae Ai, Fang, & Chai Prakarn districts in Chiang Mai..... AND as usual, RAIN is impeding our tapping. Still selling our whole lot (116 rai and the farmhouse). One of the larger property's in the village so we're sub-dividing it to 1 ngan plots (or more if wanted...). Had it, done it, yup. Consolidation.

[Mosha]

I think crepe might be driving the price.

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