The path ahead of Sri Lanka’s rubber market appears promising and prosperous although the country’s rubber production has been affected by the recent heavy rainfall.
The demand for rubber production in the country remains high despite the prevailing inclement weather in the country, a senior official of the Forbes & Walker Commodity Brokers told the Business Times.
The highest ever price of Rs. 502 per kg for Latex Crepe Rubber produced at Halpe Estate (managed by Pussellawa plantations Ltd) was recorded at the Colombo Rubber Auctions last week . It was also the highest ever price recorded for natural rubber in Sri Lanka up to now. This was mainly due to the high local demand for latex rubber, he added. Some 3000 kg of Latex Crepe rubber were offered by the company at the auction. The country’s rubber production is in the region of 110,000 metric tons.
He pointed out that people engaged in the rubber industry would be able to start tapping rubber once the inclement weather is over. Demand for Sri Lankan natural rubber in the international market is rapidly increasing as the price of synthetic rubber is fluctuating with the world oil prices, he said. He noted that traditional export products such as tea and rubber have especially high potential to expand their markets in the near future.
The Forbes official saidthe demand for rubber from China and India would increase during this calendar year, which would promote Lankan rubber production. "India and China are two of world's biggest natural rubber importers. There is much scope for Sri Lanka to expand its rubber export business to its leading trading partners," he said. |
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