Sri Trang launches ‘GPS tires’ scheme to meet rubber traceability rules

Bangkok – Thailand-based Sri Trang Group has introduced a 'GPS tires' initiative designed to meet new international traceability requirements for natural rubber (NR) used in tires.

The development is particularly in preparation for the EU deforestation-free products law (EUDR), due to come into force by the yearend, said Sri Trang in a statement 8 March.

According to the Sri Trang, ‘GPS-enabled’ NR grades will “create a new dimension towards sustainability” and increase the competitiveness of the Thai rubber industry.

The scheme is said to leverage a range of technologies employed within the group, including 'Sri Trang Friends' applications, 'super driver service', and 'smart factory system' for digital tire purchasing.

These capabilities are connected into an "ecosystem including rubber farmers, rubber traders, rubber transporters, communities, trading partners, and [others] involved in the rubber industry."

‘Rubber with geolocation’ responds to "measures or laws from around the world that require traceability of the source of NR,” said Veerasit Sincharoenkul, president and executive director of Sri Trang Agro-Industry.

The Thai group, he added, is "ready to support the enforcement of EUDR": verifying the source of NR to ensure it is not from deforested areas or encroachments into reserved forests.

Offering ‘100% traceability’, GPS rubber grades will create a “trade advantage” for Thailand as well as “opportunity for increased rubber prices,” the Sri Trang statement continued.

According to STA business development and partnership manager Paphawee Srisutthiphong, GPS rubber can come in various shapes of cup lump rubber, fresh latex and rubber sheets.

The GPS scheme, added the Sri Trang manager, will enable the market to identify or tracing back the source of NR to “which and whose plantation it belongs to”.

This year, the group aims to increase the number of GPS rubber farmers and traders to 100,000, and expand the project to 220,000 growers by the end of 2025, she added.

Also addressing the online launch, Nakorn Takwiraphat, governor of the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT), said the 'GPS coordinated rubber' initiative would help 'create cooperation in developing the Thai rubber industry in all sectors.'