In an attempt to boost domestic rubber
consumption and shore up prices, Malaysia plans to build rubberised roads from
2015 after a price-floor plan by major producing nations proved tough to
implement among farmers desperate for cash.
According to official reports, Malaysian
government is looking to constructing rubberised roads from June 2015 in the
less developed areas of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia.
Top producer Thailand, which announced
similar plans earlier this year to use rubber for roads, pavements and
reservoirs, uses 3.3 tonnes of natural rubber for every 1km of road.
Rubber prices slumped due to feeble
demand that witnessed the prices to below production costs and sent benchmark
futures to a five-year low, forcing No 2 producer Indonesia to urge suppliers
to not sell at less than US$1.50 per kilogram.
In Vietnam, growers are reducing their
cost of production and halting new planting in response to falling prices.
Global rubber prices have sunk around
35 per cent this year on a supply glut and slow growth in demand from top consumer
China. Previous efforts to rescue prices have also failed.
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