Thread: Rubber trees 101

All I here these days from my rubber farmer friends is doom and gloom , so I have stopped talking about the trade to them , what do the TD rubbers farmers think of this article?Thailand, 2 nations to cut rubber exports from March | Bangkok Post: business

Originally Posted by thaiguzzi

And no, when the trees tell us to stop tapping, we stop. Patently obvious from one week to the next with output.

I'm surprised that this seems a mystery to some

Okay I is wrong:
Must admit never saw a bloody rubber tree till 2004...thought that pathetic thing in the corner of my apartment years ago was a rubber tree? Fichus or something?
Seems that we have many types of rubber trees; all grafted on site per the pile of blades we found when we purchased.
Apparently our cutters do not tap those without leafs.
As I look out over our plantation I can see maybe 10% with golden leafs and even some with new foliage.
Down near Malaysian border last week many farms with completely bare trees.

A bit facetious perhaps:
I am really curious to know why so many individuals from temperate climates seem to have acquired such a vast, somewhat dogmatic knowledge of rubber cultivation and production.
Is Google really that good? After all Thai cutters/farmers are all stupid and ignorant, lazy alcoholics yes???

A load of rubber being grown up here in Ubon y'know- in fact I know one bloke here, apparently fairly affluent, who sold his plantation in the far south and set up here, because of all the problems down there.

Originally Posted by crepitas

Is Google really that good?

Google provides acces to info. The info quality is variable, but dig deeply and many surprises are available.

OhOh, I'm member of an Indian rubber group, not your small farmer types, industrial users etc.
The politicians in the rubber areas have been doing what pollies do, talk and it's all hot air.
India is the world number 2 tire producer, these are big companies, top 10.

MRF:
Apollo:
CEAT:
JK Tyres:
Goodyear:
Falken Tyres:
Michelin:
Metzeler
Pirelli:
Bridgestone:

Local/state politicians can call for, higher local prices, import bans, but the national government bows to the tire industry.

India is getting a taste of what happened in the west, companies can move off shore, to cheaper labor and commodity prices. Plus trade agreements, ASEAN, WTO etc are coverall agreements, you can't just drop out of one part.

Rubber farmers think it's bad now in India, import duties on rubber are going, things will get tighter.

Just like Thailand and others, rubber prices were up, farmers bought cars and left the substance life style to become consumers.

Originally Posted by crepitas

A bit facetious perhaps:
I am really curious to know why so many individuals from temperate climates seem to have acquired such a vast, somewhat dogmatic knowledge of rubber cultivation and production.
Is Google really that good? After all Thai cutters/farmers are all stupid and ignorant, lazy alcoholics yes???

When I started growing rubber, I didn't know the difference between a rubber tree and a coconut tree.

Prison service, night shifts, years of reading to fill in the long hours and still learning.

The next cure, for the farmers consumption, we care and have a plan.

MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRIPARTITE RUBBER COUNCIL MINISTERS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREED EXPORT TONNAGE SCHEME
We, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of the Kingdom of Thailand, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia and Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities of Malaysia, under the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), express concern on the recent trend in declining Natural Rubber (NR) prices which has a direct effect on the income of rubber smallholders in our three countries.
The Governments of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia hereby agree to implement the Agreed Export Tonnage Scheme (AETS) beginning 1 March 2016. Under the AETS, the three countries will withdraw exports of 615,000 tonnes of NR for the period of 6 months from 1 March – 31 August 2016.
In addition to address the oversupply of NR, we also agree to increase domestic consumption of NR. These include the use of NR for road construction, rail pads for railway construction and other suitable areas.
We are optimistic with joint implementation of these measures, the rubber price will recover and continue to be fair and remunerative to all smallholders and other stakeholders in the NR industry. This implementation will be closely monitored by the ITRC Monitoring Committee.
Released by:
ITRC Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand, 4 February 2016


How are they going to do this, private companies have supply contracts, they need to sell on the open market [auctions] as well. Stop them and they go broke, or they stop buying off the farmers, why buy if you can't sell. Another sound bite with no meaning, add to that, March is the start of trees dormant period, rubber in stock/warehoused will have already been sold for delivery during that period.

Governments needs to stop trying to talk things up, 5 star hotel meetings on expenses, can't change the markets.

There is an old marketing acronym that applies to goals and objectives:

SMART:

Specific,Measurable,Achievable,Realistic,Time related.

But since no government body is ever accountable .....

....fuck it, beer time..have good one Jim.

Originally Posted by jamescollister

The next cure, for the farmers consumption, we care and have a plan.

MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRIPARTITE RUBBER COUNCIL MINISTERS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGREED EXPORT TONNAGE SCHEME
We, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives of the Kingdom of Thailand, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia and Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities of Malaysia, under the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), express concern on the recent trend in declining Natural Rubber (NR) prices which has a direct effect on the income of rubber smallholders in our three countries.
The Governments of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia hereby agree to implement the Agreed Export Tonnage Scheme (AETS) beginning 1 March 2016. Under the AETS, the three countries will withdraw exports of 615,000 tonnes of NR for the period of 6 months from 1 March – 31 August 2016.
In addition to address the oversupply of NR, we also agree to increase domestic consumption of NR. These include the use of NR for road construction, rail pads for railway construction and other suitable areas.
We are optimistic with joint implementation of these measures, the rubber price will recover and continue to be fair and remunerative to all smallholders and other stakeholders in the NR industry. This implementation will be closely monitored by the ITRC Monitoring Committee.
Released by:
ITRC Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand, 4 February 2016


How are they going to do this, private companies have supply contracts, they need to sell on the open market [auctions] as well. Stop them and they go broke, or they stop buying off the farmers, why buy if you can't sell. Another sound bite with no meaning, add to that, March is the start of trees dormant period, rubber in stock/warehoused will have already been sold for delivery during that period.

Governments needs to stop trying to talk things up, 5 star hotel meetings on expenses, can't change the markets.

That's true Jim you can't change the markets , Thaksin tried it with Rice and look how it finished up

Daily seeing fully loaded trucks now up here in Udon province. Rubber lumber. And i'm talking 10-12 wheelers with 8-12 wheel trailers and 18 wheeler artic units... Every day...

Originally Posted by MeMock

Sorry to interrupt the Rubber thread but as you fellas are in the know, just wondering about Cassarva coming in from Laos to be sold in Thailand?
The village is all talking about that this morning. Coming and selling in Nam Yuen (Southern Ubon) and bringing the price down as a result.
Is this anything new? To do with ASEAN? Something else? Maybe just a first for this area.

Bit of an update on that Andrew, yesterday saw 30 plus trucks and dogs impounded by the police in Buntharik, all with Lao plates.

Story is they are legally bring in cassava from Lao to Narm Yuen, but were picking up Thai cassava on the trip from Chong Mek to NY, thus under cutting local haulage companies.

Cops, not sure which ones, have impounded all the Lao trucks for working in Thailand illegally, told they are waiting for the trucking company owners to come over and sort it out.

Got to give them an A for effort, don't know if it was the company's idea, or the drivers making a few Baht on the side.

so much for ASEAN free trade?

At 1800 Baht a metric ton, less 10% for dirt, I doubt it's profitable.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

At 1800 Baht a metric ton, less 10% for dirt, I doubt it's profitable.

Don't know about that, it's all about volume, would take it the trucks crossing at Chong Mek would need to be legal, weight wise.
So say a truck picks up an extra 10 tons in Thailand, big factory in Narm Yuen pays 2 Baht or there about over local rates, for contractors, not local farmers.

10 tons per truck, times 30 trucks, 300 tons, even at 2 Baht a kilo over local price, that's 20,000 Baht profit per truck per trip/day, soon adds up.

Last sale of the season, Tuesday, 20.0 baht per kg, crepe. Cup was being bought at 16.0 baht per kg at auction. Now panels being painted, and give the trees a rest for a couple of months.

Originally Posted by thaiguzzi

Last sale of the season, Tuesday, 20.0 baht per kg, crepe. Cup was being bought at 16.0 baht per kg at auction. Now panels being painted, and give the trees a rest for a couple of months.

As posted, stopped tapping early on the biggest plantation, low price and unusual winds cutting out put to a trickle, not worth the effort for the tappers.

We have a high water table, due to the mountains, in 2 weeks, of stopping tapping, all the leaves are back, light green, but they will darken up fast, if history is any thing to go by.

Could be opening them up again, before Song Kran, if this is the case, may stop tapping earlier, there by getting back on line before the big rains hit.

All about the dollars.

Just an update, said earlier about stopping tapping the biggest plantation early, due to wind, low prices and tappers not thinking it's worth it.
Well those trees are all greened up already, one good rain and they will be ready to open again, will give them to the end of the month to rest, but lesson learned, I think.
Stop tapping early, trees are still strong and recover faster, now just the prices have to pick up.

On anther note, poverty does not become me and it's time the kids, wife and I got out of the jungle for awhile, so in the proccess of renewing passports etc.
Wife's got a job sorted in Australia, kids are booked into a school, so April sometime we head back.

No idea for how long, but at least until the kids English gets better, will see how much money comes in from the rubber while away, inlaws, workers will no doubt steal a lot more, but I'm sick of rice and time for a holiday of sorts. Jim

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Just an update, said earlier about stopping tapping the biggest plantation early, due to wind, low prices and tappers not thinking it's worth it.
Well those trees are all greened up already, one good rain and they will be ready to open again, will give them to the end of the month to rest, but lesson learned, I think.
Stop tapping early, trees are still strong and recover faster, now just the prices have to pick up.

On anther note, poverty does not become me and it's time the kids, wife and I got out of the jungle for awhile, so in the proccess of renewing passports etc.
Wife's got a job sorted in Australia, kids are booked into a school, so April sometime we head back.

No idea for how long, but at least until the kids English gets better, will see how much money comes in from the rubber while away, inlaws, workers will no doubt steal a lot more, but I'm sick of rice and time for a holiday of sorts. Jim

Well Jim I'm sure I speak for all who read this thread, but I wish you and your family all the luck in the world , no doubt you will keep in touch from time to time to let us know how you are doing .

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Wife's got a job sorted in Australia

None for you? How do your kids integrate back into Australian culture, well?

Originally Posted by OhOh

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Wife's got a job sorted in Australia

None for you? How do your kids integrate back into Australian culture, well?

I may do some casual/part time work, but working for a living in not on my agenda, this is a catch up with family and friends trip.
Wife can get in to the working rut, something new to her, see how long it lasts before she wants to come home.

Kids are fine, small town and very big extended family, even the school they will be going to has a load of 2nd cousins there.

As said, more of a working holiday than a move, free accommodation, plenty of cars to borrow and as long as the wife can keep me in booze and pizza, I'll be a house husband.

Will just see how things go, come back, whenever the urge takes us, kids are still young so no big deal on the education front and good for their English.

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Wife can get in to the working rut, something new to her, see how long it lasts before she wants to come home.

Exactly what I was thinking Jim. From being a kept woman here, to working hard to support you and the kids, is going to put a big strain on your relationship. Just my opinion on having witnessed similar. Good luck Jim, tough times ahead.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by jamescollister

Wife can get in to the working rut, something new to her, see how long it lasts before she wants to come home.

Exactly what I was thinking Jim. From being a kept woman here, to working hard to support you and the kids, is going to put a big strain on your relationship. Just my opinion on having witnessed similar. Good luck Jim, tough times ahead.

Not so strangely I suppose that's just what I was thinking too.