A worker harvests rubber latex. In April alone, the country shipped an estimated 80,000 tonnes of rubber abroad, earning $143 million.- VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam exported 486,000 tonnes of rubber worth US$817 million in the first four months of 2021, up 79.6 per cent in volume and 111.6 per cent in value compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In April alone, the country shipped an estimated 80,000 tonnes of rubber abroad, earning $143 million.

In the same month, Việt Nam's rubber processors imported 90,000 tonnes of rubber valued at $159 million. In the first four months, the country imported a total volume of 594,900 tonnes worth $845 million up 144 per cent in volume and 126 per cent in value over the same period last year.

Việt Nam has the fifth largest rubber cultivation area in the world, but its output ranked third, only after Thailand and Indonesia.

The Vietnam Rubber Association admitted that although Việt Nam ranks third in the world in terms of natural rubber production and export, the country still has to import raw rubber latex for local production 

This is because of the low quality of locally-made rubber latex that does not meet international standards for production of high-quality items such as car tyres for export.

It exports mainly raw material of latex, accounting for about 78.4 per cent. The rest (21.6 per cent) has been processed products such as tires, gloves, accessories and soles of shoes.

At present, Việt Nam has exported latex and refined rubber products to 175 territories and countries and this figure is continuing to expand. There are 170 enterprises engaged in processing natural rubber latex (NRL) in Việt Nam with a total capacity of about 1.31 million tonnes per year. 

Việt Nam's largest export market for rubber products was China, India and the United States, with a market share of 64.2 per cent, 5.1 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively, followed by Japan, South Korea and Germany.

Meanwhile, the major rubber suppliers for Việt Nam are Cambodia with 44.1 per cent of market share. It is followed by South Korea with 9.5 per cent and China with 7.4 per cent.

In local market, price of rubber latex slightly rose from VNĐ9,500 to VNĐ10,500 per kg.

Because of COVID-19, the global automobile industry is facing the lack of rubber supplies. The global rubber supply is also affected by the shortage of shipping containers, according to the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Industry insiders forecast that between 2021-2024, the global rubber price can be higher due to the decreasing supply of rubber due to the lack of rubber supplies.

At a webinar to overview the domestic rubber industry recently organised by the Vietnam Rubber Association, Tô Xuân Phúc, an expert of Forest Trends said Việt Nam's export of processed rubber has been increasing to demanding markets. These markets required processed rubber products to meet many requirements for exports.

To meet market requirements, domestic rubber processors needed to be  more transparent about their production supply chains involving in sources of raw materials and chain activities and legal issues as well. — VNS