Rubber output in Thailand may climb for fourth year in 2014

ERJ staff report (TP)

Bangkok − Rubber production in Thailand, the world’s biggest supplier, will probably increase for a fourth year in 2014 because of an increase in ‘acreage’, according to the Office of Agricultural Economics, reported Supunnabul Suwannakij for Bloomberg.

Output may rise 4.3 percent to 4.03m tonnes from a year earlier, the Bangkok-based office said on 9 January. Tapping area is expected to increase to 15.8m rai (2.5m hectares) from 11.6m rai (1.85m hectares) in 2009, it said.

Futures traded in Tokyo dropped 9.3 percent in 2013 as global output increased and on concern that demand will slow in China, the world’s biggest consumer. A global glut may expand next year as production increases at a faster pace than consumption, according to The Rubber Economist.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, will expand 7.4 percent in 2014, according to the median estimate of 48 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News from 18-23 December. That would be the slowest pace since growth of 3.8 percent in 1990.

Global demand may expand 3.1 percent to 11.6m tonnes next year, less than the 4.1 percent growth estimated in September, Prachaya Jumpasut, managing director of The Rubber Economist, said on 24 December. The surplus may climb to 366,000 tonnes in 2014, the industry adviser said.

Rubber lost 17 percent in the past year to 257 yen (€1.79) a kg on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange yesterday (9 January).

This is an external link and should open in a new window. If the window does not appear, please check your pop-up blocking software. ERJ is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Full story from Bloomberg