Việt Nam's rubber exports in 2021 reached 1.93 million tonnes, earning $3.24 billion. —Photo nld.com.vn

HÀ NỘI —The domestic rubber industry had a strong recovery in export turnover last year, after 10 years of plunging due to a strong reduction in the export price of rubber.

Vietnamese rubber products are exported to more than 80 countries and territories in the world. Việt Nam now ranks third on the global market in terms of export value.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Việt Nam's rubber exports in 2021 reached 1.93 million tonnes, earning US$3.24 billion. The exports rose by 11.7 per cent in volume and 36.2 per cent in value on year. The strong growth in value was due to the continuous increase in export rubber prices.

The industry achieved the export turnover of $3.2 billion in 2011 due to the record high export rubber price. However, in nine following years, the rubber export turnover dropped below $3 billion due to the sharp decline in export rubber prices, even falling to below $2 billion. By 2020, thanks to the recovery of export prices, the rubber export turnover reached $2.38 billion.

In addition, Vietnamese rubber products entered many key markets, partly pushing the total rubber export value up in 2021.

Last year, rubber exports grew strongly in many key markets, such as the US, EU, Malaysia, South Korea and India.

In the first 10 months of 2021, exports surged by 96.4 per cent in volume and 153.6 per cent in value to India; 57.8 per cent in volume and 95.2 per cent in value to South Korea; 80.5 per cent in volume and 130 per cent in value to the US; and 79 per cent in volume and 129.7 per cent in value to Germany.

China continued to be the largest export market for Vietnamese rubber products with the exports of 1.2 million tons of rubber, earning $1.96 billion in 11 months of 2021, according to the General Department of Customs. The export increased by 1.71 per cent in volume and 26.3 per cent in value over the same period in 2020.

Trần Ngọc Thuận, chairman of the Việt Nam Rubber Association (VRA), said rubber was a key export agricultural product, accounting for a large part of the total export turnover of Việt Nam's agricultural products.

In 2021, the rubber industry achieved impressive growth in exports despite COVID-19. Many processed rubber products such as tires, gloves and rubber gaskets had a large segment in the industry's export turnover.

According to the association, the scarcity of rubber materials made the export price rise in 2021. The global natural rubber supply was in short due to a prolonged rainy season in some Asian countries.

That low supply of latex is likely to continue in 2022, leading to the price to continue to be high.

Meanwhile, the easing of restrictions related to the pandemic would significantly contribute to the recovery of rubber demand in 2022, such as the reopening of international borders of some countries and the resumption of more economic activities using rubber.

Therefore, the prospect of the domestic rubber industry in 2022 will be very bright, with strong growth in exports and export prices continuing to stay high.

The industry expects its export value of rubber to reach $3.5 billion for this year, according to the association

However, regional and world markets are forecast to continue to experience complicated and unpredictable developments such as slow economic growth, trade wars between major economies, and increasing use of technical barriers and trade remedies. Other factors include the impact from Industry 4.0 and customer demand for sustainable products.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are coordinating with localities, associations and businesses to implement solutions on developing the value chain for Việt Nam's rubber industry and increasing connection between production and export. It will develop products associated with branding in a sustainable manner. — VNS