Ivory Coast's rubber output is rising and will jump next year as soaring demand from China encourages its farmers to switch from growing cocoa and coffee.
"Production has increased slightly this year; after 2010 it is going to rise sharply as thousands of hectares of new plantations come in," Akpangni Attobra, general secretary of the Ivorian natural rubber association (Apromac), told Reuters.
Attobra said demand from China was far in excess of Ivory Coast's ability to meet it. "We have no problem with our markets - all our produce is being sold," he said. "Chinese demand is getting stronger and stronger. A lot of Chinese clients are coming here to see us for supplies but we are failing to meet their demand."
Ivory Coast is expecting to produce 218,000 tonnes of natural rubber in 2010, up from 205,000 in 2009, and output should rise sharply afterwards as new rubber plantations come on tap, he added. Ivory Coast is Africa's leading producer of natural rubber.
(Source: irco.biz)
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