Media Release – 37th ITRC Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia

1. The Senior Officials in-charge of the rubber industry from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia (TIM) met at the 37^th International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) Meeting. 

2. The Meeting among other deliberated and discussed measures to improve natural rubber (NR) prices and addressed factors influencing price movement which has directly impacted the income and the well-being of rubber smallholders in the rubber producing countries particularly in TIM.

3. While concerning the sustainability issues of the NR industry impacting the livelihood of the smallholders, the Meeting emphasised the importance of ensuring a sustainable NR sector which would benefit both producers and consumers in the whole value chain of the industry in a balanced manner. One of the main concerns is the low price range of NR which will affect the supply of rubber in the global market as the smallholders switch to other crops that are more remunerative.

4. The ITRC Daily Composite Price (DCP) peaked at 189.95 US cents/kg in February 2022 and hit a bottom of 122.99 US cents/kg in October 2022. In this context, ITRC continues its efforts to ensure fair/remunerative NR prices and the sustainable supply/demand balance for the mutual benefits of all stakeholders.

5. ITRC committed to:

  a. improve the mechanism under Supply Management Scheme by incorporating sustainability elements and efforts

  b. intensify the consumption of NR for rubber products under various established cooperations between TIM such as the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT – GT).

  c. establish an inclusive Blueprint/Roadmap for the Sustainable NR Industry in TIM covering the whole value chain.

ITRC

24 November 2022