In May, the country exported 78,000 tonnes of rubber, earning US$114 million, against 58,000 tonnes exported and $84 million earned in April, the ministry noted. — Photo vietpress

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam's local rubber industry made a small recovery as rubber exports in May recorded higher prices and volume than April, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

In May, the country exported 78,000 tonnes of rubber, earning US$114 million, against 58,000 tonnes exported and $84 million earned in April, the ministry noted.

However, in the first five months of this year, the exports of Vietnamese rubber had a year-on-year increase of 30.1 per cent in volume to reach 330,000 tonnes but a year-on-year reduction in value, of 2.9 per cent to $475 million.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that in the first half of May, the export price of Viet Nam's key rubber product (SVR 3L) reached $1,655 per tonne, higher than $73 per tonne in the previous month.

The export price of SVR 3L rose to $1,700 per tonne in the end of May and $1,790 per tonne last week, according to the ministry.

Due to the high inventory of rubber on the world market, its export price is expected to remain low between $1,500 and $2,500 per tonne until 2020, Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, head of the Viet Nam Rubber Association's administrative office, was quoted as saying by the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times) newspaper.

The price will possibly increase after 2020, Hoa added.

The rubber industry should reduce its output, production costs, and investments for production, she remarked.

For consumption, the industry should change the structure of export products as per market demand, ensure the quality of export products, and expand export markets, she added. It should also build brand names, increase trade promotional activities, and offer incentives for the development of the processing industry.

The National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department pointed out that to ensure the quality of rubber products, producers should strictly monitor the process of extraction, transportation, preservation, as well as quality checks.

Producers should also upgrade their production line with modern technologies, the department observed, adding that it would soon start cooperating with the association and related offices to set up quality standards for rubber material and processed products. — VNS