3 Asian NR producers plan to fix prices

KUALA LUMPUR (July 13)—Indonesia will join Thailand and Malaysia in an attempt to set a minimum selling price for natural rubber, according to news reports from Southeast Asia. The three countries—who between them account for more than 80 percent of world NR production—are scheduled to meet in Kuala Lumpur in August create an agreement to set common prices daily using the U.S. dollar as a basis, reporters from Bloomberg News Service and Reuters stated. Also, Thailand and Malaysia said they would act on their previously stated plan to bid on part of the moribund International Natural Rubber Organization´s 138,000-metric-ton buffer stock, although INRO officials said they have heard nothing as yet from either country. INRO will meet to discuss the buffer stock and other issues in Kuala Lumpur July 18-21. Clifford Raisch, assistant U.S. buffer stock manager for INRO, is skeptical about the three countries´ plans. "We at INRO deal with the market to set our indicator prices, not a figure arbitrarily set by governments," he said.