After 8 hard years HOPE SHINES IN 2016-17 FOR RUBBER FARMERS

By Manny Piñol

There is hope at the end of the tunnel for the suffering Filipino rubber tree farmers.

The Rubber Economist, in its quarterly report, has predicted an increase in the consumption of Natural Rubber (NR) and Synthetic Rubber (SR) in the years 2016 and 2017.

Natural Rubber refers to the latex produced from rubber trees grown in South America, Asia and Africa while Synthetic Rubber is a by-product in Oil production.

Both are used, often times mixed, in the production of rubber products such as truck and car tires.

The Rubber Economist said: “The predicted trends could contribute to an increasein rubber prices over the next two years—particularly for hard-pressed growers in Southeast Asia.”

It is projected that the world natural rubber price will reach $2.44 in 2016 for dry rubber, roughly P112 per kilo.

This means that the price of raw rubber produced by Filipino farmers is expected to increase from P18 per kilo now to at least P40 to P50 by next year.

The price of natural rubber in its raw form called cup lumps reached as high as P95 per kilo about eight years ago and this has contributed to good economic indicators in the rubber producing provinces of the Philippines, especially North Cotabato.

Gradually, however, the prices went down to P18 today, its lowest since the Rubber Boom in the Philippines.

The World Rubber Industry Outlook now available from the International Rubber Study Group forecasts world NR consumption of 12.3 million tons in 2015, 12.9 million tons in 2016 and 16.5 million tons in 2023.

“World SR consumption will be 16.8 million tons in 2015, 17.5 million tons in 2016 and 21.5 million tons in 2023,” the WRIO report said.

(Photo caption: Proven rubber clones from Malaysia are now being propagated in my rubber nursery in Kidapawan City. The new clones which are generically called Series 2000 are very prolific and could earn the farmer at least P200,000 per hectare per year even with the current price of P18 per kilo. Photos show the seedlings ready for delivery. With my brother, an international vessel chief mate, Celso.)