The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) presented its new data on natural rubber (NR) in which it stated that the NR global production dropped 5.8 percent during first two month of 2019.

This drop represents over 2 million tons of the valuable material. According to ANRPC, the decline is a result of the tropical storm that recently hit Thailand. Moreover, some other states witnessed unfavorable conditions for rubber trees during early winter season which also resulted in the manufacture drop. In addition, the organization suspects that the outbreak of a new severe fungal leaf-fall disease targeting plants in Sumatra affected the production.

At the same period, the global demand for natural rubber also dropped by 3,000 tons. The NR demand for January and February 2019 was estimated at 2.173 million tons.

Taking into account global matters that impact economy, ANRPC claimed that the NR market has been strengthened by the improvement in US-China trade relations and the two countries’ ongoing talks to resolve the trade war. Moreover, the Fed’s decision to preserve interest rates unchanged in February this year also created a favorable sentiment on the market towards natural rubber.

Article by ANRPC.