Cameroon rubber output seen more than doubling in four years

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:51:35 +0000

The general manager of Sud Cameroun Hevea S.A., a local affiliate of Singapore's GMG Global, said Tuesday of his company could possibly double Cameroon's annual crude rubber production in four years (Dow Jones International News).

"Considering that we'll have favorable weather, we intend to open over 30,000 hectares of rubber plantations, which should be giving us over 60,000 tons of raw rubber yearly. This will certainly be more than the current yearly rubber production in Cameroon," said Jean Marc Seyman in an interview with state-run television.

Cameroon's crude rubber production for this year is forecast at 53,462 metric tons, up from 52,517 tons produced in 2010, according to government data. GMG Global and the Cameroon government reached an agreement Monday, which authorized the Asian firm to acquire 45,200 hectares of land in southern Cameroon for the production of rubber and palm oil.

Goodyear: Thai floods could hit market for airplane tyres

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:31:08 +0000

Shortages from Thailand's catastrophic flooding earlier this year could spread to the market for aircraft tires as soon as February or March, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) said Friday (Dow Jones News Service). The looming supply squeeze represents a setback for yet another industry after heavy rains swamped many manufacturing plants around Thailand's industrial heart in October. Damage to key factories has already pushed up prices for hard-disk drives and auto parts.

On Friday, Goodyear said its main aviation-tire plant in Bangkok was also hit by the floods, forcing it to idle the facility earlier this year. The tire maker has remained in frequent contact with customers but still predicted a global shortage of bias aviation tires could affect the commercial-airline industry earlier next year.

The company said it couldn't accurately assess the disaster's impact on the aircraft-tire market until the floodwaters had receded during the last week of November.
Goodyear said it is now looking for other viable supply sources for its customers and is also asking other aviation-tire manufacturers to help mitigate the disruption.

The company, meanwhile, has ramped up its production of new tires and retreading at its other factories in Arizona, Georgia, Virginia and the Netherlands. Goodyear recently reported its third consecutive quarterly profit as it held the line on higher rubber costs while benefiting from sales of premium-priced tires in the U.S. and a surge of winter-tire orders in Europe.

Thai rubber export levy erodes competitiveness

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:52:15 +0000

Industry experts are urging the government to reduce the levy on rubber exports to bolster the competitiveness of Thailand's output (Bangkok Post). Uthai Sonlaksup, chairman of the Para Rubber Council of Thailand, said the levy, known as the cess rate, should not exceed 1.40 baht a kilogramme, the same as Malaysia's. "Some export competitors such as Indonesia and Vietnam even waive the surcharge in order to promote exports," he said.

Thailand uses a progressive rate for its cess on exports of ribbed smoked sheet grade 3 (RSS3) rubber. "The highest levy of five baht is charged for every kilogramme of rubber priced over 100 baht. This is high and makes Thai rubber less attractive," said Mr Uthai. The new cess rate, which took effect on Oct 1, 2010, is aimed at collecting money from bullish export prices for use in promoting new rubber planting to replace degraded trees.

Under the new rate, exports of RSS3 rubber are subject to 90 satang/kg if the selling price is less than 40 baht/kg. The rate rises to 1.40 baht/kg for prices ranging from 40-60 baht/kg, two baht for 60-80 baht/kg, three baht for 80-100 baht/kg and five baht/kg after that.

Previously, the maximum cess was 1.40 baht/kg, based on an export price for RSS3 of 35 baht/kg, the going rate for the past decade. The high cess has stimulated rampant illegal exports across borders, especially in the South, to avoid payment.

Mr Uthai said lowering the rate would curb such activities and protect planters' income, as exporters now just pass the cost on to them at the maximum five baht regardless of the actual rate. "Therefore, lowering the cess rate would also increase planters' earnings, which have tumbled strongly in recent months amid a weak international market," he said.

To tackle the sluggish market, local industry has introduced several measures such as encouraging farmers to cut their supply by 25%. Instead of doing latex tapping for two days followed by a one-day break, planters now tap every other day or about 15 days a month.

As well, the Rubber Growers Cooperative Federation of Thailand last week announced all 200 cooperatives will suspend commodity auctions in order to supply traders abroad for 60 days in a bid to salvage the sharp drop in rubber prices.

It reported the price of raw rubber sheet dropped to 75 baht/kg last week from 100 baht last month. The recent severe flooding has prompted planters to sell their output quickly despite their plantations not being located in a flood zone, as news of the crisis has pulled down prices significantly.

Chinese traders have slowed down their purchases, a major factor in the weakening prices, said Mr Uthai. However, he said last week's trip to secure the sale of 180,000 tonnes of rubber to China could eventually shore up the domestic price. The price of unsmoked rubber sheet rose to 92 baht/kg last Friday, from 86 baht at the start of the week. China is Thailand's largest rubber export market, buying 1.2 million tonnes of rubber last year or 44.3% of the country's total export 2.71 million tonnes.

Rubber propagators given new techniques in Philippines

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:14:42 +0000

The Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR) recently conducted a two-day training seminar to equip rubber tree growers with knowledge on new techniques in expanding production (Manila Bulletin). BAR said rubber is a priority crop under the High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA). Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) is also the subject of intense research and development (R&D) interventions and capacity-building efforts of the government.

The Project Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PMED) of BAR hosted the seminar entitled 'Rubber Seedlings Nursery Estab-lishment and Management in Non-traditional Areas.' It was attended by plant propagators and project implementors from the Regional Integrated Agricultural Research Centers, state universities and colleges, local government units, Bureau of Plant Industry, and farmers from Luzon and Visayas.

Romulo L. Cena, director of the Philippine Industrial Crops Research Institute and Prof. Rogelio C. Testado of the University of Southern Mindanao served as the resource speakers during the seminar. Rodolfo L. Galang, BAR coordinator for rubber, presented a report on current activities on rubber R&D in the Philippines. In his presentation, he said there are good prospects for the Philippine rubber industry.

The growing domestic and global demand for natural rubber and increasing price of rubber in the world market are factors that rubber investors can bank on. BAR is tasked to lead the R&D component of the National Rubber Development Program and support to its extension activities. Three projects on rubber have been completed, four are in the pipeline and 19 are ongoing, all of them funded by BAR.

Another plus factor was the creation of the Philippine Rubber Research Institute (PRI) in 2010. PRI is mandated 'to initiate and ad-minister R&D programs to improve quality and increase productivity of rubber especially for the benefit of smallholder rubber producers and processors.'

One key issue discussed during the seminar was the lack of planting materials for propagation. The demand for planting materials is increasing and yet there are only a few rubber nurseries in the country, mostly located in Mind-anao, BAR noted.

Those who want to engage in rubber culture in Luzon and Visayas are having hobbled by this problem. Thus, the plan is to establish more rubber seedlings nurseries. Rubber experts said having a nursery 'offers the advantage of producing large number of good and healthy planting materials at the earliest time possible with less expense.'

Testado said there are two types of rubber nurseriesground nursery in which the seedling stocks are sustained from the time the germinated seeds are transplanted from germination bed at which required planting distances to grow for later budding and polybag nursery where germinated seeds are transplanted into the polybags and allowed to grow for budding.

He advised that it is better to arrange the polybags in single rows to facilitate better growth. Having a nursery is not simply preparation of the area and planting the seeds, Testado clarified. Hence, there are factors needed to be considered first before establishing a rubber nursery.

These are 1) availability of stable water source, 2) the area must be flat or undulating terrain and must be well drained, 3) for ground nursery ' loam soil is ideal with pH of 4.5-6.5, 4) for polybag nursery ' loam soil is preferred as soil medium, 5) the area must be open (not shaded) and with fence if possible, 6) the area must be accessible and passable, 7) nursery site, if possible, should be near the area to be developed or planted, and; 8) availability of source bush for scions.

For seed selection, it is important that the selected seeds are fresh and shiny. If ever the seeds selected for germination are stale and dull, it is necessary to soak them overnight to improve germination. Seeds that start to germinate, or those with holes, should be discarded. In one square meter germination bed, approximately 2,000 seeds can be accommodated.

Aside from the discussion on nursery establishment and management, Testado lectured on latex harvesting management in rubber and natural rubber processing. He also facilitated the demonstration on bud-grafting, providing participants

Uncertainty follows floods in Thailand

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:00:41 +0000

Honda manager Hideto Maehara has swapped his car for a rubber boat to reach the company's auto plant north of the Thai capital (Detroit Free Press). A month after being inundated, the factory that makes nearly 5% of Honda vehicles worldwide is still under 1.5 meters (5 feet) of water.

The understandably frazzled Maehara acknowledged that the prospects for the plant's recovery are anyone's guess until floodwaters subside. The flood killed more than 500 people in Thailand since July and caused billions of dollars in damage to industry. "The whole area is now like a lake," he said this week in a telephone interview.

Among Japan's automakers, Honda has been the worst hit by the Thai flooding -- a disaster that arrived just as automakers were recovering from the production slide caused by the March 11 tsunami in northeastern Japan that wiped out parts suppliers. Others such as Toyota and Mitsubishi have also suffered.

The disaster is another reminder of how vulnerable carmakers and other manufacturers are to supply disruptions since their global operations rely on a myriad of sophisticated parts.

Car production as far away as North America has been scaled back as the creeping floodwaters put suppliers out of action. Yet the losses are expected to be noticeably less than those caused by the tsunami.

The calamity has also revived predictions that foreign businesses might flee Thailand, which has endured crisis after crisis -- manmade and natural -- in the past decade. There is yet no hard evidence to support those assertions, while Japanese automakers, who rank among the biggest investors in Thailand, have said they remain committed to keeping the country as their main production base in Southeast Asia.

Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, said Thursday it will resume production at its Thai plant Nov. 21, indicating that Toyota may be able to bounce back from the flooding far more easily than it had from the March earthquake and tsunami. Toyota's production in Thailand was stopped Oct. 10.

Toyota's North American production, which had been cut since Oct. 29, is expected to be back to mostly normal by next week, although the automaker isn't ruling out further disruptions. The floods have cost Toyota 150,000 vehicles in lost production, nearly 90,000 of that in Thailand, and 40,000 in Japan. The floods were affecting supplies of some 100 items, including resin and electronic parts, according to Toyota.

Automakers are scrambling to find alternative parts. Some Thai suppliers make parts that go into other parts, further compounding the problem. Toyota Senior Managing Officer Takahiro Ijichi insisted that the disruption from the Thai problems was small compared with what Toyota faced after March 11, but he was quick to acknowledge the uncertainty.
Toyota, which suffered a 70% nosedive in fiscal first-half profit, has not yet given a full year forecast for earnings or vehicle production.

"Before Thailand, we thought we would be able to outdo our production forecast," he told reporters this week. "Now, we just don't know." Mamoru Katou, auto analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research, said lost vehicle production from the Thai problems may total about 250,000 globally -- far fewer than the 700,000 from the March disaster -- but they were coming on top of each other, he said.