Natural rubber producers revise up supply and demand outlook

Kuala Lumpur – The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) has revised up the outlook for natural rubber production and consumption in 2022, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

World NR production in 2022 was revised up marginally from 14.107 million tonnes reported in February to 14.292 million tonnes in March, said ANRPC in its monthly report published 22 April.

The improved outlook is, however, based on the updated preliminary estimates from ANRPC members up to March 2022, when the war between Russia and Ukraine had just started.

The outlook for global demand was also increased to 14.330 million tonnes, up 2.2% from 14.058 million tonnes reported earlier in the year.

The improvement, said ANRPC, was made following a revision in consumption estimates by China and Thailand which saw a “better-than-expected” demand registered during March.

“Most countries have moved into endemic phase with expectation for boosting its economy recovery ever since Covid-19,” said ANRPC.

However, it added, global events such as the war in Ukraine, sanctions imposed on Russia and Covid-19 restriction in China’s main industrial cities, could hamper the growth.

“The United Nation Conference Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has recently slashed its the projection of global economic growth for 2022 by 1% to 2.6% in early March 2022.

“This may influence the prospect growth of global NR industry during 2022,” it concluded.