China seeks rubber imports

China wants to import 300,000 tonnes of rubber from Cambodia by early next year, as the Cambodian government boosts its capacity for direct rubber exports to China.

“A company from China has sought to sign a memorandum of understanding on importing about 300,000 tonnes from early 2018,” Pol Sopha, director-general of Agriculture Ministry’s general directorate of rubber, said.

Mr Sopha said Cambodia had estimated that it would not be able to produce that quantity by that time but was happy that the company wanted to import from Cambodia.

Cambodia had 430,000 hectares cultivating rubber and an export target of 190,000 tonnes by the end of the year, Mr Sopha said.

By the first half of this year, Cambodia had exported some 80,000 tonnes of rubber to foreign markets, mainly to Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

The price of rubber in Cambodia is similar to prices in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, but transport charges push up the cost of products in the markets, Mr Sopha said.

In October, Cambodia, one of the 11 members of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) – Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam – will gather in an annually rotated meeting next month to discuss on the rubber processing changes in the world.

“It will not only address the price and market for Cambodia, and all members will benefit from the rubber sector discussions,” Mr Sopha said.

Cambodia hosted the event in 2015.