Cambodia reports rubber exports down over 12 percent for 2022

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Cambodia netted $531.864 million from the export of rubber latex and wood in 2022, down 12.85 per cent over 2021, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery’s General Directorate of Rubber (GDR).

Cambodia’s international sales of rubber latex came to 372,900 tons worth $527.775 million, which was up 6,600 tons year-on-year, while those of rubber wood totaled 26,489 cubic meters valued at $4.089 million, the GDR reported.

The GDR noted that the average selling price of Cambodian rubber latex in 2022 was $1,415 per tonne, down by $225 or 14 per cent versus 2021, while the corresponding rate for rubber wood in December was roughly $150 per cubic metre.

The going rate for rubber from smallholder farmers in December was in the range of 4,325-4,925 riel ($1.08-1.23) per kilogram for 100 per cent dry rubber content (DRC 100%) latex, and 1,975-2,500 riel for lump latex (DRC 50%), it added.

The GDR reports that as of 2021, Cambodia had 404,044ha dedicated to rubber production, with 310,193ha or 76.77 per cent mature and tapped for latex, which yielded 368,000 tons that year, or an average of just below 1,200kg per hectare. According to Aun, the area under rubber cultivation has not seen significant changes in the past “two or three years”.

Cambodian rubber latex and wood exports topped $611.77 million in 2021, climbing up from $482 million a year earlier. Broken down by category, 366,300 tons of natural rubber latex – or over 99 per cent of total production that year – accounted for $610.26 million, and 454 cubic meters of rubber wood clocked in at $1.52 million, the directorate reported.