By RAI MARAOH – Rubber plantation owners throughout Mon State have begun to make the decision to hold on to their collected rubber, while rubber prices have begun falling worldwide.
Chit Aung, a rubber farm owner in Mudon Township, said, “We hope the price of rubber will increase again soon. Therefore, we do not sell it now as we are getting a lower price.”
She said, “ I got 45,000 kyat a day while the price of rubber was good. But, now, if I sell it, I only make 35,000 kyat per day.”
According to the Myanma Permanent Plantation Service in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, the price today per pound for RSS grade 1 rubber is 1,300 kyat, though last month the price was 1,700 kyat. Now, RSS grade 3 is 1,100 kyat, decreasing by 500 kyat since last month.
A rubber dealer in Mudon Township said, “I lost profit because I bought rubber for a higher price, and then I had to sell it for a lower price. But, I hope the price will recover soon.”
Though the price of rubber started at 1,800 kyat per pound at the beginning of the rubber season in September, the rubber price started to decrease at the beginning of March. Last year, though, rubber was sold at 600 kyat per pound.
According to the New Light of Myanmar, rubber plantations in Mon state make up 37.06 percent all rubber plantations in Burma.
Farmers began planting rubber in Mon State in 1988. Currently, there are 423,692 acres of rubber plantation in Mon State.
Rubber has become an increasingly popular raw material that is now in high demand.
Burma is not the only country to have begun cultivating rubber. Used for tires and other industrial goods, Thailand and Vietnam, too, are producing rubber in large quantities and selling to industrialized countries worldwide.
Rubber is a main agricultural export. Most rubber is exported to China, Singapore and Malaysia.
During the fiscal year of 2007-08, which ended in March, Burma cultivated more than 364,500 hectares of rubber, producing more than 80,000 tons.
