VRA recommends rubber businesses to promote deep processing and reduce...

Rubber export prices increased sharply in the first two months of 2025, helping to improve export value despite a decrease in output. However, market share in China – the largest market – is decreasing as the country shifts to imports. VRA warned that businesses need to increase the proportion of deeply processed rubber and expand the market, especially to the EU, to increase value and reduce dependence risks.

Báo Đắk Nông•14/04/2025

According to the Import-Export Department ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ), Vietnam's rubber exports in February 2025 reached 115,457 tons, worth 225.71 million USD. In the first two months of the year, the total export volume reached 276,085 tons, worth 524.36 million USD. Although the export volume decreased by 7.4% compared to the same period in 2024, thanks to the sharp increase in rubber prices, the export value increased by 21.9%. The average export price in February reached 1,955 USD/ton - the highest level in many years - bringing the average price in the first two months of the year to 1,899 USD/ton, up 32.7%.

The price increase is mainly due to the global supply shortage caused by La Nina and the strong recovery in demand in China thanks to economic stimulus policies. However, the market still faces many risk factors such as the US increasing import tariffs on cars - affecting tire consumption, and the EU delaying the implementation of the EUDR regulation but still posing long-term environmental pressure.

China continues to be Vietnam's largest rubber export market, accounting for 74.3% in volume and 73.7% in value in the first two months of 2025. However, the amount of rubber China imported from Vietnam decreased by 9.4% compared to the same period in 2024, while imports from countries such as Thailand (up 32.4%), Russia (up 70.8%) and Ivory Coast (up 56.9%) increased sharply. This caused Vietnam's rubber market share in China to decrease to 19.8%, compared to 27.2% in the same period last year.

Besides China, some markets recorded mixed developments: exports to India decreased sharply in both volume and value, while exports to Malaysia and Indonesia increased many times. Malaysia rose to become the third largest market thanks to a 7.4-fold increase in volume and 8.3-fold increase in value compared to the same period in 2024.

VRA recommends rubber enterprises to promote deep processing to reduce dependence on China

In terms of product structure, natural rubber and synthetic rubber (HS code: 400280) still dominate with nearly 62% of total export volume - mostly to China. However, this is still mainly raw rubber, not yet deeply processed, making the added value still low compared to the potential.

In light of the above situation, the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA) believes that China still plays a central role on the global rubber trade map thanks to its large demand, especially as the country develops its electric and hybrid vehicle industry. However, China’s diversification of supply sources is a warning sign for Vietnam, especially as the country still mainly exports raw materials and has not significantly shifted to deep processing.

VRA recommends that businesses need to have a clear strategy to increase the proportion of deeply processed rubber to enhance value and competitiveness. At the same time, it is necessary to step up trade promotion activities and expand export markets, especially the EU market - which accounts for 31-34.5% of total global rubber exports and has an average annual import turnover of up to 75 billion USD. This will be a necessary direction to minimize risks and enhance the position of Vietnamese rubber in the international market.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/vra-khuyen-cao-doanh-nghiep-cao-su-day-manh-che-bien-sau-giam-phu-thuoc-trung-quoc-249365.html