Yokohama Rubber and RAOT hold their eighth joint seminar event in support of natural rubber farmers in Thailand

Hiratsuka, Japan—The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that, together with the Surat Thani branch of the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT), it held a seminar event in December 2024 to help Thai natural rubber farmers improve the quality and productivity of their natural rubber.
*A state enterprise under the jurisdiction of Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC)

Fifty farm households in the Surat Thani area participated in the event. The participants deepened their understanding of the selection and planting of natural rubber seedlings, the aims and effects of applying fertilizer, and the importance of preventing foreign substances from entering natural rubber. In addition, each participating household received fertilizer developed using RAOT’s specialist knowledge. The farmers who attended the seminar will provide rubber samples every month for one year to Y.T. Rubber’s program tracking changes in the physical properties of natural rubber related to the use or non-use of fertilizers and the impact of seasonal changes on trees selected as survey samples. RAOT greatly appreciates Yokohama Rubber’s continuous participation in this seminar event, which has now been held eight times since the first one in 2020.

In January 2020, Yokohama Rubber signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the RAOT to cooperate in efforts to provide economic support for Thai natural rubber farmers and to improve traceability to ensure transparency and soundness of the natural rubber supply chain. The MOU and events held under it are concrete actions based on Yokohama Rubber’s “Procurement Policy for Sustainable Natural Rubber.” This seminar event was held in the Surat Thani area, home to Yokohama Rubber’s Thai natural rubber processing company Y.T. Rubber Co., Ltd., as part of support for farmers under the MOU.

A founding member of the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), Yokohama Rubber revised its “Procurement Policy for Sustainable Natural Rubber” in September 2021 and is strengthening its collaboration with GPSNR activities. The recent seminar event in Thailand reflects the principle of “Support for suppliers, including small-scale farmers, and other parties involved in the supply chain” set forth in the Procurement Policy. Yokohama Rubber will continue to implement and announce initiatives in line with the action guidelines stipulated in this policy. Yokohama Rubber also is endeavoring to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. As part of these efforts, the Yokohama Rubber Group is promoting the procurement of sustainable raw materials, including natural rubber.

Under the sustainability slogan “Caring for the Future”, Yokohama Rubber is creating shared value by addressing social issues through its business activities.