Rubber acreage to jump 500% in Burma

RANGOON (Commodity Online) : The Burmese prospects for rubber continue to look bright as there could be a rise of 500 percent in rubber acreage in 22 years in the Mon State in Burma.

According to New Light of Myanmar, Mon State accounting for 37% of total rubber plantations in Thailand, saw a steep rise in acreage to reach 423,692 acres in 2009-10 from 76,607 acres in 1988.

Additionally, rubber plantations are growing in Shan State and Tenasserim.

The State has public as well as private plantations with Max Myanmar Company Limited operating 3,000 acres.

Burma, earning $ 1.9 million has exported 2407 tons to China alone in the last two months of 2010.

Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam are also markets for Burmese rubber. Exports to these countries are carried out mainly through sea routes.

However, despite the proliferation of plantations in Mon State in Burma, local residents there prefer to work in Thailand as they can earn better incomes there.

While in Mon State a labourer gets $50 a month, in Thailand the figure could touch as much as $245 a month.