BANGKOK—Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have agreed to withdraw 615,000 tons of natural rubber from the market for six months, the International Tripartite Rubber Council announced last week.
The three countries announced the “agreed export tonnage scheme” (AETS) will from March 1 to Aug. 31, at a ministerial meeting of members of the ITRC.
At the meeting, officials expressed concern over the continuing slump in NR prices and its impact on the income of smallholders in their countries.
In a bid to improve NR prices, the countries also pledged to increase domestic consumption under initiatives such as the use of NR for road construction, rail pads for railway construction and other high-volume applications.
The ITRC said it was “optimistic” that the new measures could help rubber prices to recover.