Vietnam expects its rubber imports from neighbouring Southeast Asian countries to stay at current levels as it plans to boost its natural rubber output in coming years, a senior industry official said on Friday.
Vietnam is expected to import 250,000 tonnes of rubber this year, up from 230,000 tonnes in 2006, Tran Thi Thuy Hoa, secretary general of the Vietnam Rubber Association, told Reuters on a sidelines of a rubber conference.
"We hope to maintain rubber imports at the current level. The tyre market is big, that's why when we develope more smallholder rubber plantations, we can produce more tyre-grade," Hoa said. Vietnam's natural rubber imports between January and April eased 3.5 percent from the same period last year to nearly 59,600 tonnes, customs data showed.
The country imports tyre-grade rubber, such as RSS3 and TSR 20, from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia as Vietnam does not produce tyre-grade rubber. The rubber is then re-exported to China because traders prefer to buy from Vietnam instead of purchasing directly from Thailand or Indonesia because of the distance. China accounts more than 60 percent of Vietnam's rubber export.
Vietnam, the world's fourth-largest exporter only produces high-quality SVR 3L and natural latex, which are used for manufacturing non-tyre products such as footwear, condoms and gloves. With additional imports from other rubber producers, Vietnam expects to export 800,000 tonnes this year, up from 707,900 tonnes in 2006, said Hoa.