Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, which produces 70% of the world's natural rubber, have agreed to cut exports by 48,000 tonnes per month in the second quarter of the year to prop up falling prices of the product.
The new measures to reduce exports would push up the rubber prices, or at least bring them to an acceptable figure to both smallholders and other industry players, Yium Tavarolit, chief secretary of the International Rubber Consortium (IRCo), said.
The lower prices were due to a lack of demand, he said and cited the current global economic crisis, low oil prices and reduction in car production in Thailand as the reasons for the slump in prices.
The proposal needed ratification by the International Tripartite Rubber Corporation (ITRC) which was scheduled to meet here on May 14 and 15, he said.
Last December, IRCo agreed to cut 915,000 tonnes of rubber from the market in 2009, some 270,000 tonnes of it in the first quarter. The 144,000 tonnes to be cut in the second quarter could be increased or reduced depending on the market movement, Yium was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
"We will monitor the market on a weekly and monthly basis. If the prices go up, we might reduce the quantum, but if they drop, we might increase it," he said.
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