Thai government finds ways to boost rubber prices

BANGKOK, March 22 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, is finding ways to boost the prices of natural rubber products, including seeking cooperation from neighboring countries to cut the supply on the world market. Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Lak Wajananawatch told journalists on Thursday although the prices of natural rubber products have increased to a certain extent over the past months, with the price of smoked rubber sheets alone, for instance, having risen to 48-49 baht a kilogram on the domestic market from 42 baht a kilogram earlier, the declining prices of natural rubber products currently are caused by the market mechanism. Lak said Thai Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Kritsada Boonra has, thus, ordered that natural rubber stocks of 104,000 tons stored at government warehouses not to be released at the moment in order to uphold the market prices. Lak revealed that his ministry also plans to soon hold talks with relevant agencies of other rubber producing and exporting nations in the region, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, to work out joint measures on raising the natural rubber prices on the world market, including suspending producing natural rubber latex for an agreed period to reduce the supply, with a concluded resolution expected by next month. Besides, his ministry will seek a state budget of about 6.5 billion baht, about 3 billion baht of which will be used to support local rubber growers to reduce their plantation areas to cut the supply and to keep the rubber prices stable in the long run, but turning to grow other economic crops with more positive prospect instead. The deputy minister noted that the remaining 3.5 billion baht-state budget will be used to fund repairs of damaged roads by using a high proportion of natural rubber in the work. According to the deputy minister, the total demand for natural rubber to be used for road repairs by Thai government agencies now stands at about 150,000 tons, from about 120,000 tons earlier targeted, boosting the use of natural rubber in the country by 18 per cent. (TNA)