Rubber exports stable

While international rubber prices rebounded late last year, Cambodia’s exports in 2016, however, remained relatively unchanged compared with 2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The ministry’s figures indicate that Cambodia exported 128,111 metric tons of rubber in 2016, with a marginal increase compared with 128,047 metric tons in 2015. The price of natural rubber rose from its lowest at $1.20 per kilogram in early 2016 to $1.60 in the last quarter of the year and $2.40 per kilogram in late 2016.
 

According to experts in the rubber sector, the increase in prices will encourage the development of more rubber plantations in the country. Lor Raksmey, spokesman for the Agriculture Ministry, said that though the total area of land in the country for rubber cultivation had increased, many of the areas were planted with young rubber trees that could not be tapped for latex yet.
 

Mr. Raksmey added that many plantation owners had replaced their rubber trees with other crops due to the low prices early last year. “We don’t blame them for wanting to chop down their old rubber trees and replace them with other crops. It’s a case of economic necessity and a matter of survival,” he said.

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