Representatives of rubber growers from all over the country will gather in Bangkok next week to press the government to intervene over falling prices.
Leaders of the Rubber Growers Cooperative Federation of Thailand in each rubber-growing province will be in the city on March 21-22 and meet Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to voice their demand to shore up prices, federation chairman Perk Lertwangpong said.
Today, about 500 rubber farmers in Songkhla will submit a letter calling for intervention through the provincial governor, Mr Perk said.
The federation disagrees with the use of government revenue earned from taxing rubber farmers to finance price intervention.
The federation suggested the government instead spend about 8 billion baht of the budget set aside since 2008 for the projects to resolve depressed rubber prices. The government, however, discontinued the projects at the beginning of the year when rubber prices soared.
The median price of rubber latex at the Hat Yai market, which sets the country's benchmark price, was now quoted at 98 baht per kilogramme as opposed to about 150 baht per kilogramme earlier this year, said Boonsong Nabthong, president of the Association of Rubber Growers Confederation of Thailand.
The fall has also been attributed to the delay by China to buy rubber from Thailand in anticipation of a lower price later. The tsunami and earthquakes in Japan also had a role in prices falling. The disasters have brought delays in investment in the car-making industry.
Several rubber-processing plants in Trang have suspended operations as they fear a continued price slide will cause heavy losses.
(Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/227073/growers-seek-price-action)
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