Olam to divest natural rubber business

Singapore - Food and agriculture company Olam International is divesting its natural rubber (NR) business as part of a six-year restructuring strategy.

Under the 2019-2024 streamlining plan, the group will divest its rubber, sugar, wood-products and fertiliser businesses, Olam said 25 Jan.

The divestment process is expected "to release" funds of around $1.6 billion (€1.4 billion), according to the Singapore -based company.

Olam’s rubber business includes a crumb rubber processing facility in the Ivory Coast, third-party sourcing of NR, and a JV plantation in Gabon.

Ivory Coast affiliate Société Agro Industrielle de la Comoe sources NR from about 2,000 smallholder farmers in the country.

The company then processes the material to two grades of TSR (technically specified rubber).

Under third-party trading, Olam also imports and exports NR in blocks, sheets and latex form.

Olam has sourcing offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and west Africa, and a sales presence in China, India, Europe and Singapore.

The company also has around 11,000 hectares of rubber plantations under a joint venture business with the government of Gabon.