"Our goal is to procure all materials from responsible sources," said Andrea Appel, head of purchasing for Continental's tire business. "The key to achieving this lies in innovative technologies and digitalization, which can make a decisive contribution to transparency in complex supply chains."
HeveaConnect, a joint venture between Halcyon Agri Corp. and Singapore-based DBS Bank, launched in 2018 with the aim of connecting natural rubber stakeholders, including farmers, rubber producers and tire makers. Since its inception, Continental said, more than 400,000 metric tons of natural rubber—worth more than $550 million—has been purchased through HeveaConnect.
The platform, Halcyon said when unveiling the program, would allow producers and consumers to track pricing and supply information.