Rubber Price On Rise In South Sumatra

Palembang, South Sumatra, Jan 31 (ANTARA) - The price of processed rubber of 90 percent quality in North Sumatra has been raised from Rp26,121 per kilogram to Rp26,299 per kilogram. Secretary of the South Sumatra Association of Indonesian Rubber Companies (Gapkindo) Awie Aman said here on Thursday that the price of processed rubber of 90 percent quality tended to fluctuate throughout this month but remained within the range of Rp25,000-Rp27,000 per kilogram. He stated that the price of processed rubber in South Sumatra in recent months had been fluctuating depending on the demand of the commodity in the overseas market, because most rubber commodities produced in the province were exported abroad. He noted that dozens of rubber processing factories, which were members of Gapkindo, exported an average of 60,000-70,000 tonnes of rubber per month. Rubber-producing areas in South Sumatra are Muaraenim district, Lahat, Banyuasin, Musibanyuasin, Ogan Ilir Komering and Ogan Komering Ulu, including parts of Musirawas district, Pagaralam and Prabumulih. More than a million hectares of land in South Sumatra is under rubber plantation. The plantations are managed by private parties, foreign nationals, as well as local farmers. A businessman dealing with rubber in Muaraenim district, Yasad, pointed out that �rubber prices at the farm level are still not too good�. "The current price of rubber at the farm level is less than Rp10,000 per kilogram, whereas a few months ago it had reached tens of thousands of rupiah per kilogram," he said. Yasad expressed hope that the price of rubber at the farm level rise soon, saying rubber plantations were the mainstay of local farmers� livelihood in some areas of South Sumatra.