Cambodia reports a 38 percent increase in rubber exports

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – The Phnom Penh Post reports that Cambodia earned $206.728 million from the export of “rubber and articles thereof” in the first four months of 2023, up 38.0 per cent year-on-year from $149.808 million and up 22.7 per cent half-on-half (compared to July-October 2022) from $168.5 million, according to provisional Customs (GDCE) data in “International Merchandise Trade Statistics” bulletins.

This category of items, corresponding to Chapter 40 of the Harmonised System (HS) of Tariff Nomenclature, accounted for 2.858 per cent of the $7.234 billion value of the Kingdom’s total goods exports over the four months – compared to 1.970 per cent and $7.606 billion in January-April 2022, and 2.287 per cent and $7.368 billion in July-October 2022.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC) vice-president Lim Heng told The Post on May 31 that Chapter 40 exports are still exhibiting positive signs, in part due to low domestic demand, despite tepid international rubber prices in recent years.

“Rubber is a lucrative commodity that Cambodia exports to international markets every year,” he said, maintaining that volumes should increase as global political and economic conditions return closer to pre-2020 normalcy.

On the other hand, the domestic rubber market will expand as new tyre and vehicle-assembly plants fire up, he said with a healthy dose of optimism.

In April alone, the Kingdom exported $38.628 million worth of “rubber and articles thereof”, up 20.3 per cent from $32.111 million in April 2022 (year-on-year), but down 19.9 per cent from $48.239 million in October 2022 (half-on-half), down 28.8 per cent from $54.234 million in January 2023 (quarter-on-quarter) and down 29.64 per cent from $54.902 million in March 2023 (month-on-month), according to the GDCE.

This monthly amount was down 56.60 per cent from the record $89.004 million set in December 2022, as indicated by GDCE statistics for the 2015-2023 period. The next highest values on record for the aforementioned timeframe are $58.965 million (February 2023), $56.095 million (November 2022), $54.902 million (March 2023), and $54.234 million (January 2023).

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hun Sen on May 22 declared that Cambodia wants more factories that employ locals and utilise domestic raw materials such as rubber and cashew nuts. Such investments can introduce new technological solutions and advance domestic industrial development objectives, he said.

The premier was speaking at the official inauguration ceremony for Chinese-owned General Tires Technology (Cambodia) Co Ltd’s $300 million tyre factory in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone. The company claims that at least some of the plant’s raw materials will be procured domestically.

The Ministry of Commerce’s business directory notes that General Tires Technology was previously named General Intelligence (Cambodia) Co Ltd, which Shanghai-listed Jiangsu General Science Technology Co Ltd identifies on its website as an “overseas subsidiary”.