ANRPC adds Myanmar as new member

Kuala Lumpur - The Republic of the Union of Myanmar has joined the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), the association announced 25 Sept.

Myanmar produced 242,000 tonnes of natural rubber during the year ended June 2018 from 311,000 hectares of yielding rubber trees in the country.

The country’s average annual yield is low at 777 kg per hectare due to the plantations being largely occupied by clones with low-yield potentials.

The country also has 346,000 hectares of young rubber plants which have not attained the yielding maturity, said the ANRPC statement.

Myanmar’s annual production is expected to exceed 500,000 tonnes in six years’ time, when the young trees are opened for tapping.

The country also has four tire manufacturing facilities, three of which are state-owned.

Myanmar currently exports 150,000 tonnes of natural rubber.

With the addition of Myanmar, ARNPC now has 13 members, representing 90.5% of global NR output.

The next ANRPC assembly and the 11^th annual rubber conference will beheld in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand 8-13 Oct.

The rubber conference, to be held 8 Oct, will investigate ‘adapting for the emerging megatrends”.