BANGKOK, Oct 17 (Reuters) – The world’s three top rubber producers ended a meeting on Friday with a promise for more talks, but no firm commitments to deal with slumping prices.
Instead, delegates said they would pass on recommendations to agriculture ministers from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, a response unlikely to bolster rubber prices that have more than halved from a record peak in June.
“We agreed to list all possible options that have to be undertaken by the 3 tripartite countries,” H. Agus Tjahjono, chairman of the International Rubber Consortium (IRCo), told reporters in Bangkok. He did not give details of the recommendations agreed by the IRCo members, which together account for 70 percent of world rubber output. The agriculture ministers from the three countries will meet in the last week of October.
Falling demand from the auto tyre sector, which accounts for around 60 percent of natural rubber use, has seen Tokyo rubber futures <0#JRU:> drop from a record above 350 yen a kg on June 30 to 169.2 yen on Friday.
Indonesia’s agriculture minister announced plans on Thursday to cut natural rubber production by 30 percent, including encouraging planters to reduce their tapping frequency to every three days instead of every two.
But the Indonesia Rubber Association on Friday said exports this year would grow by 4 percent, although this was down from an earlier forecast of 5-7 percent as economic weakness dents demand.

Source:  Reuters

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