Rubber price increase

The tapping season has just begun, but the high price of rubber latex has created excitement for rubber farmers. Hopefully, the price of rubber latex will maintain or increase so that rubber farmers can have a good income...

1. When the rainy season begins, it is also the time for people to fertilize rubber trees to prepare for tapping. This year, the hot weather has lasted for a long time, so rubber trees have lost a lot of strength, but compared to other crops, rubber is still more drought-resistant. In the recent heat wave, some perennial crops in the province died due to lack of irrigation water, but the impact on rubber trees has not been much. At the beginning of the rubber tapping season, farmers are very excited because rubber prices are relatively high.

Mr. Nguyen Thuan in La Ngau commune (Tanh Linh) has more than 30 hectares of rubber trees planted in La Da area. He said: "I just had a few trees in the first rain of the season and I haven't had time to fertilize the rubber trees yet when I heard traders quote a latex price of 35 million VND/ton. At first, I didn't believe it, but when I called my rubber farmers in Duc Linh and Tanh Linh, I found out that this was the real price that traders were offering. The rubber price is high, but in Binh Thuan, there is still no latex to sell, the reason is that we have to wait for rain. Many rubber farmers take advantage of the opportunity to fertilize, but it takes a while for the trees to be strong enough to open their mouths to tap. I have been growing rubber for more than 15 years now, but I have rarely seen early-season latex offered at such a high price."

Last year, the price of latex at the beginning of the season was 23-24 million VND/ton, so many gardeners with large rubber areas only fertilized sparingly, because tapping latex would not be enough to cover labor and management costs. For small-scale households, tapping latex is a labor-intensive way to make a profit. When latex reached 27 million VND/ton, gardeners focused on tapping latex, at which time the rubber trees were vigorous, so the quality of the latex was also better. In Dong Giang, Dong Tien, and La Da, most of the people growing rubber are ethnic minorities, so the area is small and family-style. With high prices for latex, ethnic minorities have more income to improve their lives.

2. Tanh Linh and Duc Linh are the "capitals" of rubber trees. Not only do they have large rubber areas, but they also have many rubber processing factories. The roads are more convenient because they are close to the Southern region, so the price of rubber is always higher than other regions. Currently, Tanh Linh has about 20,000 hectares of rubber, Duc Linh has more than 10,000 hectares of rubber. Mr. Nguyen Binh in Duc Linh has more than 100 hectares of rubber planted in Gia Huynh and Suoi Kiet areas. A few years ago, although the rubber trees were at the age of tapping, the price was only 22 - 23 million VND/ton, so Mr. Binh stopped tapping and only invested in moderate fertilization for the trees. He said: For many years, the price of latex at the beginning of the season has been very low. Last year, the highest price was only 32 - 33 million VND/ton, and the rest only fluctuated within the range of 26 - 29 million VND/ton, but this year, with such high prices, the rubber raw material area in the province will flourish...

Rubber latex fluctuates from 35 - 37 million VND/ton, which many people consider the "peak" because it has been a dozen years since early-season rubber latex had such a high price. During the latex tapping season, rubber prices are high, so gardens invest heavily in exploitation. This means that farmers have more job opportunities, especially rural workers who accept to tap and drain latex for hire for local people. The current latex tapping price is 350 - 500 VND/tree. If you work hard from tapping latex at night and collecting it in the morning, you can earn 1,000 - 1,500 VND/tree, and the salary is also from 400,000 - 600,000 VND. This is a significant source of income in rural areas, especially in remote mountainous areas such as Tanh Linh and Ham Thuan Bac.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province currently has about 45,000 hectares of rubber, of which nearly 2/3 of the area is for harvest, with an average latex yield of 14-15 quintals/ha, and in places with good soil and proper care, the yield is 18 quintals/ha. In the province, there are about 10 large and small establishments that buy and process rubber latex, mostly concentrated in Tanh Linh and Duc Linh, of which Binh Thuan Rubber One Member Co., Ltd. is the "locomotive" that both produces and purchases and processes for export. Regarding the reason why the price of rubber latex at the beginning of the season is higher than previous years, a director of a private company specializing in buying raw latex for processing for export said that it is due to strong fluctuations in the international market. On the other hand, countries in the region have reduced their supply, so the demand for rubber latex exports has increased. The price of rubber latex depends a lot on the export source. If there are many export orders, the price will increase, especially at the beginning of the season when goods are scarce, so many companies collect goods to meet the order quantity. However, it is difficult to predict whether the price will increase or decrease, but hopefully this year the stable rubber latex market will help rubber growers, latex processing factories, and latex tappers have a good income...

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