Cambodia earned $324 million from the exports of natural rubber and rubber articles in the January to June half-year (H1) period of 2023, an increase of 42.1 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest trade data of the General Department of Customs and Excise (GDCE).
For January to June 2022, Cambodia earned only $228 million from the exports of rubber goods.
The latest data, however, showed that for June 2023 alone, Cambodia earned $63.76 million from rubber exports, an increase of 44.8 percent, compared to $44 million in June 2022 as the rising trend in exports that started in the latter half of last year continued into the first half of this year as well.
The surge in rubber exports this year is also remarkable as Cambodia’s total exports recorded just about 0.8 percent growth for the half-year period till June 2023.
It may be noted that Cambodia earned $541.66 million from the export of rubber and rubber articles in 2022, recording a growth of 28.3 percent compared to the previous year. The Cambodian rubber market mainly consists of China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, India, and the EU.
Meanwhile, the global rubber market also ended the first half of the year on a positive note.
According to the monthly statistical report released by Kuala Lumpur-based Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) on July 21, the mid-year outlook of the global natural rubber market was balanced and positive. Both supply and demand of natural rubber have registered a growth of 0.8 percent, year-to-year.
For June 2023, Thailand continued to be the biggest producer of natural rubber, followed by Indonesia, Vietnam, China, India, Malaysia and Cambodia.
In 2023, global natural rubber market is anticipated to reach 14.693 million tons for production while consumption is projected at 14.738 million tons.
While the natural rubber market is weighed on by the fundamentals of the produce itself, other external factors such as inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions and global crude oil market could play an influential role in the rubber market, including in the price of natural rubber.
According to market experts, the market for natural rubber continues to face major economic headwinds in 2023, especially due to the less than expected growth of the Chinese economy in the second quarter of the year. China is the biggest producer of tyre in the world.
According to recent reports, China’s economy expanded by 6.3 percent in the second quarter year-on-year, falling short of market expectations as export demand remained low and declining property prices affected consumer confidence.
Economists had forecast earlier that the Chinese economy would grow just over seven percent. But for the second quarter of the year alone, growth slowed to 0.8 percent from a 2.2 percent quarter-on-quarter growth registered in the first quarter.
Adding to this are the impacts of the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war and high borrowing costs from interest rate hikes. “Stubborn inflation and a projected slowdown in the recovery of the global economy in 2023 are major concerns,” said Heng Guan, Secretary-General of ANRPC in a report earlier this year.
Source : khmertimeskh.com