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Indonesia encourages an increase in domestic consumption of natural rubber

25 September 2020 10:24

JAKARTA - Indonesia is encouraging an increase in consumption of natural rubber in the country as a concrete effort to ensure the welfare of natural rubber farmers in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, while maintaining the stability of the natural rubber market at the global level. This was agreed upon by Indonesia and Thailand and Malaysia who are members of the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) at a virtual meeting that took place on September 22-23, 2020.

"As the second largest natural rubber producing country in the world, Indonesia has also felt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the natural rubber sector. For this reason, Indonesia and two other natural rubber producing countries are collaborating to formulate concrete efforts to ensure rubber farmers still get a remunerative price in the midst of an uncertain situation like today," said Plh. Director of APEC Negotiations and the International Organization of the Ministry of Trade, Antonius Yudi Triantoro.

Yudi explained that the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the emergence of various policies, such as restrictions on the entry and exit of goods, postponing the purchase of rubber, to regional quarantine (lockdown). To that end, Indonesia together with Thailand and Malaysia continue to commit to maintaining a balance of supply and demand for natural rubber in the global market, including ensuring significant domestic consumption of natural rubber so that reduced exports due to the pandemic can be replaced by domestic use of rubber.

In order to increase rubber consumption in three countries, ITRC through the Demand Promotion Scheme (DPS) Committee conveyed strategies, innovations, and programs to increase the use of natural rubber in the country. The unfavorable situation of the world market due to the pandemic needs to be addressed better. Despite the decline in production due to the pandemic, world consumption has also decreased, causing prices to continue to be depressed. (LM)

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