Vietnam is now the world’s third largest rubber exporter, with its products present in more than 80 countries and territories, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Vietnamese rubber is stretching deeper into important markets such as China, America, Europe, South Korea and India, it said.
Vietnam Customs’ preliminary statistics showed that the country earned more than $287 million from exporting 222,482 tons of rubber in August, up 0.1% in value and 1.3% in volume from the previous month.
In the first eight months of 2023, rubber exports fetched over $1.62 billion, down 19.3% compared to the same period in 2022.
The export price reached $1,343 per ton, a year-on-year decline of nearly 20%.
China has always been the largest importer of Vietnamese rubber, with 181,723 tons and $232 million in August, up 3.7% and 2.6% from July, respectively.
In the eight-month period, Vietnam’s rubber shipments to this market reached 939,325 tons, earning more than $1.2 billion, up 11.8% in volume but down 9% in value year-on-year.
Notably, the average export price to this market recorded a sharp year-on-year decrease of 18.6% to $1,318 per ton.
In the year to end-August, the Chinese market accounted for 78% in volume and 76% in value of Vietnam's rubber export structure.
In 2022, China topped the list of Vietnamese rubber consumers, accounting for 74.62% of the country's total rubber exports, with 1.6 million tons worth $2.38 billion, up 14.6% and 4.3% year-on-year, respectively. The average export price reached $1,490 per ton, down 9% compared to 2021.
Vietnam currently has more than 938,000 hectares of rubber plantations, making up 7.2% of the global total.
Its rubber latex production hit 1.26 million tons in 2022, accounting for 8.7% of the global figure. The Southeast Asian country boasted an annual yield of 1,682 kilograms per hectare, ranking first in Asia.