Plantation of natural rubber in Thailand
The area of natural rubber plantation in 2015 was 30.15 billion square meters in Thailand.
The primary planting area was in the south, which accounted for 68% of the total; the northeast and the central areas took up 17% and 12% of the planting area; and the north only stood at 3% of the total.
Output of natural rubber in Thailand
The output of natural rubber produced from south Thailand, the major producing area, accounted for 72% of the country's total output.
The other three areas only produced 28% of the total.
Therefore, the output of all-new rubber from south Thailand affected the overall supply of the country.
In 2015, Thailand's natural rubber output was 4.47 million tonnes, with STR20#, natural latex, bacon rubber and compound rubber the primary products.
With regard to the product categories, the output of STR20# accounted for 43% of the total, up 2% from 2014; and that of concentrated latex was up 4% to 22% of the total.
Impacted by China's new policy on compound rubber, the ratio of Thailand's compound rubber output to its overall rubber production declined to 11% in 2015 from 20% in 2014.
Export of Thailand's natural rubber
In 2015, Thailand's natural rubber exports were 3.75 million tonnes with China the major export destination, accounting for more than a half of the overall exports.
The rubber exports to Malaysia, Europe and Japan were 11%, 7% and 6%, respectively.
The export of STR20# was 1.76 million tonnes in 2015, accounting for 47% of total exports, and latex export accounted for 19%, leveling with the ratio in 2014.
Sluggish sales in China pulled down Thailand's compound rubber export to its total at 15%.
Supply of Thailand's natural rubber producing areas
Statistics show that in April, the rainfall in Thailand was merely 191mm, less than a half of the level in 2015.
So far in May, the accumulative rainfall was 280mm, while the figure in last May was around 680mm.
In south Thailand where the rubber output accounting for over 70% of the total, the rainfall is less than the amount in the same period of last year, although in the northeast area and other places the rainfall was about the same as ever.
The output of all-new rubber in Thailand is difficult to grow and the inventories of local processing plants are low. The overall output is considerably fewer than a year ago.
But, as the coming of the monsoon and the supply is to increase, the perspective for rubber is pessimistic and Chinese tire and rubber producers are actively pre-selling back month cargos.
As dollar depreciates quickly, rubber inventories in China's free trade zones show price advantage, Chinese buyers prefer spot goods in the free trade zones and nearby ports.
In addition, the capacity utilization of China's tire companies is around 70%, but market demand for tire exports and tire sets goes lower, and the capacity utilization is expected to decline further to reduce overall output.
Therefore, the prospective for natural rubber in the mid- and long run is bearish on the basis of the fundamentals.
