Thailand's Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Tamana, has established a rubber management task force to urge the Thai Rubber Administration and the Department of Agriculture to inspect rubber stocks and crack down on illegal rubber, and has prepared a budget of 600 million baht to help stabilize prices when traders press prices on farmers. Over the past month, the price of various types of rubber has increased by 4-5 baht per kilogram. The Thai Rubber Association has expressed concern about the situation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The exit plummeted.
It is understood that one of the emergency policies announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of the Seta government, Tamana, during the first 100 days of taking office was that the price of rubber should not be lower than the current price, which was 44.20 baht/kg for fresh latex, 47.10 baht/kg for raw film, and 49.25 baht/kg for tobacco film. As of October 11, 2023, data shows that various types of rubber have significantly increased by 4-5 Thai baht per kilogram.
Phoek Lertwangphong, a member of the Rubber Management Working Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in the country, revealed that since Minister Tamana took over from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, a special working group has been established to help rubber management, strictly crack down on illegal tires and rubber export tax avoidance, accelerate the inspection of rubber inventory by the Thai Rubber Administration and the Department of Agriculture, and provide an estimate of Thailand's rubber production from the current to December, All of these have an impact on the actual price of rubber sold by farmers in the country.
Under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives for over a month, the price of various types of rubber in Thailand has increased by 4-5 baht per kilogram. The previous price of rubber particles was 20 baht per kilogram, but now it exceeds 30 baht per kilogram. The previous price of tobacco adhesive sheets was 49.25 baht per kilogram, but now it has increased to 54.06 baht per kilogram.
Phoek stated that due to the increase in rubber prices, the Thai Rubber Bureau has not yet used a budget of 600 million baht to stabilize rubber prices. But if market prices are distorted and unfair to farmers, this budget will be used to purchase rubber from farmers to maintain price stability and prevent them from being taken advantage of.
The Chairman of the Thailand Concentrated Latex Association stated that due to government policies and the impact of increased rainfall and leaf disease during this period, production and supply have decreased, leading to an increase in the current price of latex. Importantly, the price of rubber blocks has increased with the increase in domestic and international automobile production capacity, especially with the increasing demand for rubber wheels made from rubber for electric vehicles, leading to a continuous increase in the prices of various types of rubber. At present, the average price of fresh latex is 50-51 baht per kilogram, indicating that the market is starting to return. Although it is still not as lively as last year, the trend is improving.
At that time, a report pointed out that there were not many rubber exports to Russia, not even to Ukraine, and other countries also had very few exports. But in the end, the conflict of that year had an impact on production costs, and the demand for rubber disappeared. These all came from the closure of relevant factories, the relocation of production bases, and ultimately affected prices. On the other hand, there are also positive signs at this time that many countries' economies are beginning to recover, which is positive for prices and consistent with the Shanghai futures market prices, where investors have started to purchase raw materials, causing various rubber prices to rise.
He added that it is expected that the procurement competition for rubber raw materials will be very fierce by the end of this year, as the rainfall has not stopped yet, coupled with the impact of leaf disease. From the evaluation of raw materials, it is expected that the country will lose more than 20%, and next year's production will be lower than this year. These are all incentives for factories to purchase rubber inventory and sell it to customers, which will have a beneficial impact on farmers.