Policy focus must shift to repairing public finances and improving medium-term growth prospects

Researchers reported their methods to improve efficiency and increase latex yield in two recent publications, building upon decades of research led by Katrina Cornish, professor of horticulture and crop science and food, agricultural and biological engineering at The Ohio State University.

Researchers aim to strengthen the U.S. rubber market by extracting latex from North American plants. This is vital due to threats to Southeast Asia’s rubber supply. Their efforts focus on enhancing extraction efficiency and leveraging the unique properties of guayule latex. A surprising discovery also improves dandelion latex extraction.

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Although 2024 is forecast to be a challenging year for the rubber sector, posed by unfavorable weather conditions and unpredictable market development, the Vietnam Rubber Group Joint Stock Company (VRG) is still eying over 4.1 trillion VND (166.6 million USD) in pre-tax profit, up 2.2% year-on-year.

Macro factors and rallying rubber prices are underpinning rubber firms' performance.

Japanese rubber futures hit a six-week high on Monday as inclement weather in Thailand, the world’s top exporter of the natural rubber, raised fears of tighter supply, while optimism over strong automobile data also boosted sentiment.