ASEAN rubber producers sound concern over price plunge

Rubber producers in Southeast Asia sounded their concern here on Tuesday over the sharp decline of rubber prices recently, saying contract defaulters were aggravating the situation further.

The ASEAN Rubber Business Council (ARBC) was very concerned with unprecedented sharp decline in rubber prices, which had plunged more than 50 percent from its high three months ago due to the global finance turmoil, Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) said.

The price plunge brought about rising contract defaults, which accelerated the price fall, the board said in a statement.

“ARBC has agreed to address this issue on defaulting buyers and expressed the urgent need to uphold the principle of contract sanctity,” it said.

To prevent these default problems, ARBC has devised measures to restore order in the market, including distributing a blacklist of the defaulters to all members of the ARBC and advising the members to stop dealing with such defaulters, accord to MRB.

Kuala Lumpur,

Wednesday Xinhua