Rubber production expected to rebound with 9% growth

RUBBER PRODUCTION in the country is expected to increase by 9% this year in the face of revived demand, an Agriculture official said yesterday.

High Value Commercial Crops program director Rene Rafael C. Espino told reporters that "this year, rubber is seen to increase 9% [because of] high demand."

The increase is being projected even after rubber production dropped by 8.58% in the first quarter of the year to 58,240 metric tons (MT) from the 63,710 MT recorded in the same period in 2009, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show. In 2009, production dipped 0.83% to 407,640 MT from 411,040 MT, the data showed.

Mr. Espino attributed the slump in the industry to dampened demand amid a global economic crisis. He said revived demand from recovering overseas markets is expected to be reflected in industry sales this semester.

Officers of the Philippine Rubber Industries Association, Inc. could not be reached to validate the department’s forecast, though the government reported last month that production of rubber and plastic products grew 22.5% in April.

Still, Mr. Espino cited the need to improve product quality. He said, the department plans to buy modern rubber processing equipment to help producers upgrade their products. "We are now trying to get equipment for the village-level processing in order for us to have better quality products," Mr. Espino said.

Mr. Espino said the department will purchase processing equipment that will transform cup lumps, which make up bulk of the country’s rubber products, into higher-value rubber sheets. This, in turn, is expected to raise demand for them for industrial and automotive use.

Mr. Espino said that most of the rubber plantations in the country are located in Mindanao, and that the department is looking at other areas. "We’re scouting for areas that will be very suitable for rubber now, we’re looking at Palawan as a potential area for expansion," Mr. Espino said.

He added that rubber plantations require investments of $2,500-$3,000 per hectare, which cover planting, harvesting and processing of the product.

To be sure, the government has long recognized the need to upgrade the country’s rubber products.

Last May, former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo (2nd District) signed into law Republic Act No. 10089, forming the Philippine Rubber Research Institute -- to be based at the Mindanao State University in Naga, Zamboanga de Sibugay -- to provide research and development support to the industry.

Agriculture department data showed that the country’s rubber industry supplied just 1.05% of global demand in 2004. The industry lags behind counterparts in Indonesia and Malaysia, which started to plant rubber in 1905 -- around the same time as the Philippines.  

(bworldonline.com)