Thai rubber exports rose 11.5 percent in February from a year earlier as suppliers filled orders placed during the January holiday period, government and industry officials said on Thursday. A rubber industry official said there was little new demand in February, which followed a 21 percent year-on-year decline in rubber exports in January.
"Its not about rising demand. Orders were held back due to the long holiday in January and shipped in February," the official at the Thai Rubber Association said. Rubber exports in the first two months of 2009 fell 6.4 percent from the same period last year, reflecting a poor overall export outlook, a Commerce Ministry official.
The fall was partly due to a plan agreed by the top three rubber producing countries - Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia - to cut exports by 915,000 tonnes in 2009 to prop up prices, dealers said. "Rubber exports in March are likely to fall again because it is the dry season which reduces supply," said a trader in Thailands Hat Yai rubber centre. Thailand, the worlds largest rubber producer, sold 2.83 million tonnes of rubber in 2008, down from onnes in 2007, according to Agriculture Ministry data.