Trade Minister Plans To Increase Natural Rubber Price

Jakarta, Nov 20 (Antara) - Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel has met natural rubber producers from across the world in the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, in a bid to boost the natural rubber price in Indonesia. "The decline in the price of natural rubber today must be improved by means of supply management. Some 2.4 million rubber farmers in Indonesia, the world`s second-largest producer, should get a decent price," Rachmat noted in a press statement on Thursday. He remarked that Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are the world`s largest natural rubber producers and control 79 percent of the global exports. According to him, relevant ministers from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam who attended the ITRC in Kuala Lumpur recently discussed ways to boost the natural rubber price, which reached its lowest level in the past three years. Rachmat noted that all natural rubber producing countries have joined hands with businesses to push up the natural rubber prices to a level that will be beneficial to both the producers and consumers. The export value of natural rubber from Indonesia in 2010 reached US$7.3 billion and rose to US$11.7 billion in 2011, but it dropped to US$6.9 billion in 2013.