Thailand is still building up its reserves of rubber, a top industry official said on Thursday, backtracking from an earlier statement that the world's top rubber producer may use stocks to moderate high prices.
Djoko Said Damardjati, secretary general of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), also said the world's major rubber producers have indicated that rubber prices have gone up too fast, after agreeing to keep prices above $2.60 a kilo.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia account for 70 percent of global rubber output, according to the ANRPC, which also groups India, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka.
"Thailand actually purchases rubber from smallholders when the price is lower than 80 baht per kilogram. That is all they do," Damardjati told Reuters.
Earlier this week, Damardjati had said that Thailand may take the first step to moderate cash rubber prices that had gone above $3 a kilogram and release at least 300,000 tonnes of rubber held in reserves.
Government and industry officials in Thailand have said there were no official rubber stockpiles in the country to influence the market and that current prices were reasonable.
Cash rubber hit a 56-year peak of $3.25 a kg in July 2008 but then slumped to $1.10 a kg in December 2008, prompting the top three producers to agree to cut exports to shore up prices. But as prices recovered in 2009, little was done to restrict exports.
The three top rubber producers are to meet next week to seek ways to stabilise prices.
Traders and industry officials said there could be around 200,000 tonnes of rubber held by private companies in Thailand, but that was not an official reserve that could be managed by the government.
(Source: irco.biz)
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