Thai Rubber Latex Corp PCL, Thailand's biggest latex exporter, expects to show a net profit of 150 million baht ($4.3 million) in 2009 thanks to healthy demand from the medical sector, the company's CEO said on Tuesday. That would be a turnaround from the net loss of 150 million it expected to post in 2008 and a net profit of just 5.3 million baht in 2007, he said.
He said the company expected revenue of 10 billion baht in 2009, up from around 8 billion baht expected for 2008. The company, which relies on rubber gloves for industry and the medical sector for 90 percent of sales, expects to continue to sell 50 percent in the export market and 50 percent in the home market in 2009, he said.
He said the company was caught out by the volatility in rubber prices in 2008 and blamed swollen rubber stocks, built up at a time when prices were surging, for the loss it expected for 2008. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber touched a six-year low below 100 yen per kg in December, weighed down by the poor outlook in the auto industry, which consumes around 60 percent of world rubber production, and falling oil prices.
Prices of Thai export-grade rubber sheet (RSS3) dropped in line with TOCOM to $1.10 per kg in December, down from a 56-year high of $3.25 per kg in July. However, Vorathep expected rubber, and therefore latex, to be less volatile this year, forecasting the latex price would move in a narrow range between $1,200 and $1,500 per tonne in 2009, which compares with a range of roughly $1,000 to $2,000 in 2008.
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