RUBBER: An Overview
According to the dictionary, rubber is a tough elastic polymeric substance made from the latex of a tropical plant or synthetically. It is known for its elastic quality and is used in the manufacturing of many products and applications worldwide. It is used for both industrial and house hold products.
NATURAL RUBBER:
Natural rubber is a polymer of isoprene, an organic compound that is made from the juice (latex) of the rubber tree. It is very useful for its high resilience, waterproof properties and large stretch ratio.
SYNTHETIC RUBBER:
Synthetic rubber is made from petroleum.
Both the natural and synthetic rubber can be used for same thing hence they influence each others demand.
The rubber tree needs constant high temperatures and a wet environment to be productive. It takes about seven years for the tree to reach a productive age. Some nations in South East Asia are the top producers of natural rubber, which accounts for about 70 percent of global production.
The world's leading producer of natural rubber is Thailand. As of 2019, Thailand's Natural Rubber production amounted to 4.85 million metric tons. Second on the list is Indonesia with 2019 production amounting 3.3 million metric tonnes, next is Malaysia, Vietnam and India.
Nigeria is at around 14th position in the world.
OVERVIEW OF NATURAL RUBBER ECONOMY 2020
According to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing countries (ANRPC), their report for year 2020 shows that between January and July, there was an 8.9% fall in world production and a 14% drop in world consumption of natural rubber. Meanwhile, the world production in the year is anticipated to be about 13.149 million tonnes based on preliminary estimates available from individual countries. This is a record of 4.9% down from last year.
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