SL Govt. upset with rubber traders

The Sri Lanka government has hit out at the rubber industry sharply criticizing its members for not doing enough to curtail the growing downward trend of its production levels that it has fallen to. Plantation Minister Lakshman Kiriella addressing the Colombo Rubber Traders Association (CRTA) AGM in Colombo last week said the future of the rubber industry was dependent on the people growing rubber. In the recent past there have been instances when large rubber plantations were used to grow other crops. The minister queried from the industry what they had done to quell this situation and asked if it was fair to always depend on the smallholders to grow rubber. He left it to the industry to find their markets, adding that the sector needed to look to China as well for trade. The government was only capable of providing subsidies something which the minister noted was still being carried out in Sri Lanka. However the Business Times learns that major rubber producing nations like Thailand, Malaysia and India still provide subsidies through their respective governments. Industry calls for the removal of the export cess for premium grades of rubber was considered to be difficult to implement without a formal discussion on the matter, the minister said. Ceylon Rubber Traders Association Chairman M.S. Rahim said that production had dropped significantly last year followed by a “big drop” in prices.