Rubber

Natural rubber is produced by the rubber tree and rubber tapping is the main process by which latex is collected from a rubber tree. Natural rubber producing countries have shown that the world demand for natural rubber rose YoY by 5.2%, to 11.7 million metric tons in 2018.

Rubber is predominantly produced in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, China, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Cambodia. These countries accounted for nearly 91 percent of the global production of natural rubber in 2017. The demand for natural rubber is increasing day by day in the world market.

The rubber tree originated from Brazil and it was introduced to countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia.

There are two broad types of rubber in the market, the types are natural rubber (latex—grown from plants) and synthetic rubber; made artificially in a chemical plant or laboratory.

The synthetic rubber by-products could be seen in the market such as tire, bands, sheet, pipe, floor, strip, mats, magnets, etc.

About 70 percent of natural latex is used for tires and other by-products made of natural rubber are mattresses, balloons, footwear, hot water bottles, adhesives and seal rings. Natural rubber is used in over 40,000 products in the world.

It takes approximately six years for a rubber tree to grow and to harvest the sap and an average rubber tree supplies 19 pounds of rubber latex annually. In rubber plantations, the trees are smaller because those that are grown for latex are stunted due to tapping.