Hey, got some interesting facts about Cambodia’s rubber industry! It looks like things are shifting in a big way.
In the first ten months of this year (January to October), we actually exported way more rubber latex than we did last year. We shipped out 257,322 tonnes, which is about an 11.6% jump! That’s a huge increase in volume.
But here’s the weird part: even though we exported more tonnes, the money we earned from those exports actually dipped a bit, down 3.9% to about $453.3 million. (This usually happens when the international price per tonne goes down, which is a common factor in global commodity markets.)
🏠 The Real Story: Domestic Demand is Booming!
The most exciting news, though, is what’s happening at home. Our domestic use of rubber latex has absolutely exploded! It shot up by a whopping 117% to reach 99,118 tonnes. That local demand brought in $179 million from sales right here in Cambodia.
This huge jump in domestic consumption is likely because more local tire and rubber product factories are opening up and using our raw rubber instead of us shipping it all overseas—which is great for local jobs and processing!
🔎 Just the Facts
For context, Cambodia currently has more than 420,000 hectares of rubber plantations, and about 77% of that area (330,000 hectares) is mature enough to be tapped and produce latex. We’ve got plenty of trees!