GMG Global Resumes Ivory Coast Rubber Shipments

GMG Global Ltd. said shipments from its rubber plantation and processing plant in Ivory Coasthave resumed after delays last month caused by the West African nation’s political crisis.

The “shipment schedule for GMG is back on track and there are no further delays,” said Candy Fanya Chang, a spokeswoman for the Singapore-based company, in an e-mailed response to questions today.

GMG owns a majority stake in Tropical Rubber Cote d’Ivoire, a company that runs a 1,560-hectare (3,850-acre) plantation and a processing plant capable of producing 36,000 metric tons a year.

At least 173 people have died in unrest in Ivory Coast since the country’s Nov. 28 presidential run-off election left both candidates claiming victory. Ivory Coast is Africa’s largest producer of rubber. The country’s exports increased 37 percent to 12,433 tons in November, the port of Abidjan said in a Dec. 28 statement.

June-delivery rubber extended its rally to a record 440.8 yen ($5.30) per kilogram in after-hours trading on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange after data showed improvement in the U.S. economy, boosting expectations demand will expand for the commodity used in tires.

-- With assistance from Aya Takada in Tokyo and Supunnabul Suwannakij. Editors: Philip Sanders, Paul Richardson, Emily Bowers.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-06/gmg-global-says-ivory-coast-rubber-shipments-have-resumed.html)