Record price for sheet rubber

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The highest price for sheet rubber was recorded as Rs. 261 last week. Director General Rubber Development Department Wimal Rubasinghe said it was for the first time in the history that rubber prices went up to that level and it was between Rs. 200 to 230 all the time.

He said the future will be very good for rubber cultivators as the Government introduced a new cess tax for rubber products manufactured using local rubber for the local market. Earlier there was no such tax and this will be implemented from next month. Rubasinghe said this money will be utilised to improve the rubber cultivation. At present the Department grows 180,000 new rubber plants annually and the final target is to grow rubber on 42500 hectares within 10 years.