Thailand to expand rubber plantations, raise export tax

Thailand to expand rubber plantations, raise export tax

July 22, 2010

A rubber plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia. Thailand is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of rubber. — Reuters pic

BANGKOK, July 22 — Thailand, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of rubber, is expanding its cultivation with a further 128,000 hectares of plantations from next year, a deputy agriculture minister said today. 

“The plan has already been approved by the Cabinet. We are now at the stage of preparing the rubber saplings and we expect to start planting early next year,” Supachai Phosu told Reuters. Rubber trees take five to seven years to mature and so could start producing latex in 2017, he said. 

The Agriculture Ministry also planned to raise the tax on rubber exports, setting progressive rates that rise in line with rubber prices, he said. “The plan will be submitted for Cabinet approval next week and we expect to implement the new rates by October,” he said. The current rubber export tax is set at a fixed rate of 1.40 baht (14 sen) per kg. — Reuters