ANRPC members to discuss declining of rubber prices

By Doris Yoong

KUCHING, May 5, 2015 - The declining trend of the prices of natural rubber since the third quarter of last year will be among the issues to be discussed at the special session of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) in Kuala Lumpur this Friday.

The declining trend is due to the slower economic growth in major importing countries.

The average price of the SMR 20 in 2013 was RM7.74 cents per kg and declined by 28.5 percent to RM5.53 cents per kg in 2014. The SMR20 price currently averages between RM5.00- 5.10 cents per kg. 

The smallholding sector is the back bone of the producers in the ANRPC countries. The decline in NR prices has negative repercussions on the income level of the NR smallholders.

 The special session of the ANRPC Assembly at the Ministerial Level was last held on 2005.

The special session this year is an initiative by Malaysia to explore collaborative effort to strengthen NR prices.

The special session at the ministerial level is expected to issue a joint communiqué at the end of the meeting and it will outline the outcomes and the areas agreed by the ANRPC countries to strengthen NR prices.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, the special session, to be chaired by the minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas,  will focus discussion on collective efforts by ANRPC countries towards ensuring long term price stability.

These include balancing supply and demand of NR through among others, replanting activities and crop diversification.

It is also to promote cooperation in the development of rubber based downstream activities, with the aim at promoting domestic consumption of NR and reduce global stocks.

The statement also said the special session is to strengthen the role of ANRPC Secretariat to provide an effective platform to coordinate cooperation activities, including data collection and coordination, and the involvement of the private sector in promoting the development of rubber based downstream activities.

The ANRPC is an inter-governmental organisation established on 8 April 1970. The membership of ANRPC covers 11 countries comprising of Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The main function of ANRPC focuses on coordination, marketing and promote technical cooperation among member countries.

 In addition, ANRPC also promotes cooperation in research and development. The ANRPC countries account for 92 percent of global natural production in 2014.