Source: FN
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called on rubber farmers to be patient with the fluctuation of rubber price on the international market due to trade war, speaking at the Puthisastra graduation ceremony on Thursday.
“Now our rubber price is decreasing, yet our farmers should not change the plantations. Now that rubber price is falling, some farmers would want to demolish rubber trees, and replaced the fields with cashews; and then substituted them with other crops when the cashew price drops. This is a huge waste of labor force,” said Prime Minister Hun Sen, urging farmers to be patient.
The average price of rubber is USD 1,300 per ton, a decrease of 10 percent compared to the same period from last year.
Cambodia has exported over 63,000 tons of rubber within the first four months of 2019, amounted to USD 82 million of revenue, according to the General Department of Rubber, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Cambodia has exported over 210,000 tons of rubber in 2018 to China, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, generated USD 300 million of revenue, the report added.
As the 16th largest natural rubber producers in the world, the government has set a goal to produce 290,000 tons of rubber by 2020.