REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALEMBANG -- Indonesia's latex production has declined to 30 percent since the beginning of this year as rubber prices in the global export market have also depreciated since the middle of 2014, the country's rubber association said.
The Indonesian Rubber Business Association's (Gapkindo's) Chairman for South Sumatra, Alex K Edy said on Saturday that due to the low prices, some farmers had temporarily stopped processing their rubber production.
The price of raw rubber is currently pegged at about Rp4,000 to Rp5,000 per kilogram.
"They are leaving their rubber plantation untouched for the time being, because if they process it, they will only get inadequate returns," Alex said.
However, some other farmers have been unable to stop processing their rubber production because they do not have other alternatives or sources of income.
"If they don?t do so, they will be unable to make both ends meet," he said.
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