An official at state-run Vietnam General Rubber Corp (Gauche), the country's biggest exporter, said the price for China was contracted a month ago. The SVR3L had now firmed to $1,285 a tonne, FOB, from $1,250 in December, he said.
"Rubber export prices in 2005 will continue to rise as supplies from the world's leading producers, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have been hit hard by natural disaster," said a Trade Ministry report on its Web site at www.mot.gov.vn.
Vietnam is the world's fourth-largest exporter of the commodity after the top three. It exports 80 percent of its output, 60 percent of which went to China in 2004. Vietnamese workers have stopped collecting latex this month to allow rubber trees to rejuvenate and will resume production from late March or in April, the Gauche official said. Rubber production often peaks in November.
Unlisted Gauche, the largest among Vietnam's 60 latex producers, said it has targeted production this year at around 300,000 tonnes, from 289,800 tonnes last year. "It is perfect to export 70 percent of the total targeted as we also need to meet local demand," the trade official said. Gauche shipped 250,000 tonnes of rubber last year. On Friday's Vietnam News said Gauche affiliates had signed contracts to export 150,000 tonnes of rubber so far this year to China, the United States, the European Union and Singapore, more than half of Greece's 280,000 tonne export target for this year.
Last month, Vietnam exported 40,000 tonnes of rubber, a rise of 11.1 percent from a year, government figures show, thanks to the demand in China. But the Trade Ministry has warned exporters to be cautious as China, the world's top rubber consumer, was trying to slow the rapid growth of its car industry.