I wish it would rain.
I've turned into a money lender.
Any longer and I'll be borrowing money off the Chinese.
I wish it would rain.
I've turned into a money lender.
Any longer and I'll be borrowing money off the Chinese.
Got in our first tap for the season, the thunder storms have brought the trees to life, but in doing so have snapped 8 trees in half. Jim
They've been tapping here costantly but they're getting bugger all out.
Price last night from Muaray Rubber 35 a kilo for cup.
Wifey has just called the depot. Kee Yang 31/kg
Why bother Jim? Like most things here it's one pace forward, 2 paces back.Originally Posted by jamescollister
Think I would agree with you at this moment in time. Been in the high 30s low 40s for 3 weeks, feel like I have been slow roasted and broke. Most of the workers [ some family ] won't get off the backsides to work, worst of all I ran out of beer money, a fate worst than death in this heat.
All is not lost though, in one hours time I will sell a truck load of cup rubber from the plantation I keep for my beer and going out money. Tomorrow I'm off to Ubon for a boys night or 3 out. Wife, kids and in laws can stay sleeping on the tile floor, while I have beer, pizza and a few massages.
When the rubber flows it makes money, problem with Thais is they live in the moment, there is no tomorrow. Have cash today, buy a car or motorbike, no planning involved, which is fine if you don't have car, electricity payments etc. Which is also the biggest mindset jump a farang has to make in farming, you are not in the west where people work year in year out. My biggest problem workers.
Who cares the rubber is back and the good times will come. Jim
Live off your home country investments and pensions, rent a house/condo in Thailand, golf 3 days per week. Drink beer, eat and tour around SE Asia ... Nivarna. Farming? No thanks. Bin dere, dun dat, when I was younger.
Yo guys ! Hi Mosha, and especially you Jim ! Now we can communicate again. Finally followed you over from the other site. I'm not really a forums type person, but this place looks like a pleasant place to be. And we can use swear words - brilliant. Keep in touch.
Mike.
agree you on thatOriginally Posted by Mosha
i got banned for asking (where to buy seeds?)
bladdy joke,
As for the rubber. So far this rainy season seems to be back to normal. Year before last, this time of year. I t rained every day almost all day for 2 months solid. Last year was wetter but at least we got dry days.. This year so far we haven't been that badly affected, but I feel for the guys that have. I know what it feels like. Out of about 850 trees we has 30 sheets the last 2 nights
Every years seems different, we usual get hit by the big monsoon rains sometime in May, not this year.
This year it has been thunderstorms 3 or 4 times a day, which is worse than the big non stop rains. Big rains no tapping, but what we have now is you go out to tap, big moon, stars in the sky, tap all the trees. One hour later a thunder storm hits, driving rain for 30 or 40 minutes and all the latex is washed away.
A farmers life. Jim
Enough to make you cry in your beer Jim.
Here we go again, rubber thieves out and about in one area, first exchange of gun fire for the season, last night. Seems the owner of the plantation was asleep in his hut, heard the noise and challenged the thieves, they fired on him with a muzzle loader, he returns fire with a real rifle.
The guns are coming out again, sooner we get back to sheet the better, then only one place to secure. Jim
Factory is fine, have movement senser lights, CCTV, a few fair sized dogs. Have a live on site person. It's the remote plantations that are the problem when doing cup. You can expect the tappers to live on site in what is just a lean to, no water, no power no nothing.
Just a problem that there is no real answer to, they steal in the night. If things go wrong they run into the mountains or cross over into Lao and lay low.
We have maybe a border soldier post every 10 km with 2 or 3 soldiers.
When things get bad the local villages get together and have a whip around and put a bounty out on the ring leaders.
It's life in the borderlands. Jim
Christ you northers do it tough..down here in Trang province the longest cut stoppages are maybe two or three weeks.... rain, leaf fall being the major issues.
Sure we have our share of storm damage, rubber pilfering , never had drought problems ....think we have it soft compared to you guys.
Don't know of any local farangs farmers on TD but enjoy reading about the Isaan diggers. Gotta get up there sometime ...
Jim/anyone: have you ever run the numbers re cup vs sheet re profitability vs time /effort/frustration..?
I tried once on excel..gave up.and grabbed another beer...we stick with cup now ...neighboring farmer, wife and kids are cutting for us ....
....the exception is 25 rai that the wife insists on cutting...she says if she did not do it I might expect her to do the washing and clean the bathrooms...instead of being able to sleep all day!!
Crepitas, sheet wins hands down for the owner, not so good for the tapper. Tappers who do cup can tap more trees and get the same money. Tapping is the easy part, 2 hours a night and into your hammock.
Sheet involves work and you need more workers or tappers. The tappers cut less trees, have to collect the latex, transport it to the rolling plant, make the sheet. hang it, rack it stack and pack it. The tappers get about the same money, sheet or cup, but have a lot more work.
Get the same argument every year, always short of workers, 7 down now. Tell the tappers to go over to sheet, why we get the same money just doing cup. Yes they do, but I don't, even with the low prices of today making sheet value adds to the tune of over 30 Baht a kilo. In the hay day when prices were high it was over 60 Baht.
Last year we broke the 4,000 kilo month, making sheet adds about 120,000 Baht to the months pay day. I take my cut, say 70,000 Baht above what I would have got from cup. So it pays for the owner to do sheet. Jim
Sold kee yang at auction yesterday, Udon; 43.00 baht per kg, 3 odd baht per kg DOWN from a fortnight ago. Just as depressing was our low output, managed 6 tappings in 2 weeks.
Mike.
Yep a depressing price and not looking good for the near future.
I thought things would be picking up about now, seem to remember all the world leaders talking about the green shoots of recovery earlier in the year. Most have been a frost that killed them
Can't complain, come from Geelong in Australia, seems the whole city is getting laid off, better an income than life on the dole. Jim
I'd like to know how many thousands of rai the Chinese have stuck in, in Cambodia. Up here, everywhere that had Eucalyptus two years ago, is now 2 year old rubber. Hundreds and hundreds of rai. In 5 years time, if the world economy has not picked up dramatically, i can see an ever bigger glut of excess rubber, and maybe a price of 20-25 baht cup, 50 baht sheet. Or am i just depressed, because i can't afford another box of Chang?
Think Goodyear tire has about 10,000 hectors of producing rubber in Cambodia.
As to price, as Thatcher said, the market will decide. If the price drops too low, people will stop tapping, workers will down tool and get other jobs. Malaysian wages are already too high to be profitable, at these prices. Still plenty of room for rubber, growth in the oil based plastics market.
it's not over yet, just a shit world at the moment. Jim
How about taking a leaf from Monsanto's book and cloning your trees to produce Spandex?
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