The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) poses challenges for Vietnam's rubber industry, but it also opens doors to new opportunities.

The 21st Vietnam International Plastics and Rubber Industry Exhibition (VietnamPlas 2023) opened in Ho Chi Minh City on October 18, attracting 625 exhibitors from 22 countries and territories, including China, India, France, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Russia, US and Vietnam.

As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, Vietnam's rubber industry faces challenges from both the world market and internal factors that hinder the industry’s competitiveness. Finicky global markets are extremely competitive and well down the road of development, meaning Vietnam needs to catch up to keep pace.

Many enterprises forecast less optimistic business results in the first quarter of the year, due to weak domestic macro data in the first few months.

Rubber is one of the industries posting good performance despite many sectors struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysia’s rubber exports continued to record strong growth in 2021, climbing to 64.61 billion ringgit (about 15.5 billion USD), according to Khairuddin Rahim, Deputy Executive Director Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA), adding that the figure was 25.84 billion and 43.64 billion ringgit, respectively, in 2019 and 2020.

The Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) targets to earn revenue and profit of 26.9 trillion VND (1.17 billion USD) and 4.56 trillion VND this year, respectively.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued a positive conclusion for Vietnam in the anti-dumping and countervailing duty probes into imported automobile tyres.

Vietnam's rubber industry needs to develop its production chain to meet the increasing demands of export markets, especially fastidious markets such as Europe and the US, according to experts.

Sustainable latex production is important for Vietnam’s rubber industry, and the country should focus on getting rubber plantations to obtain certifications on sustainability, experts have said.

The Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (VRG) plans to invest in tyre and tube production via mergers and acquisitions (M&As) over affiliate companies of the Vietnam Chemical Group (Vinachem).

Thailand's natural rubber industry is likely to remain depressed this year despite a sharp rise in demand for protective rubber gloves driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vietnam Rubber Group JSC (GVR) targets increases of 8 percent and 5 percent in revenue and post-tax profit this year, respectively.

Cambodia exported 53.05 tonnes of rubber in the first quarter of 2020, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, earning 75.34 million USD, according to the General Directorate of Rubber under the country's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The Board of Investment (BoI) of Thailand recently approved five investment projects worth a total of 40.46 billion THB (nearly 1.3 billion USD) during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, reported Thai media on February 26.

Vietnam earned 220 million USD from shipping 175,000 tonnes of rubber abroad in January, up 10.8 percent in value and 28.9 percent in volume compared to the same month last year.

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the three largest rubber latex producers in Southeast Asia, are discussing the reduction of export in the second half of this year to mitigate impacts from global price plunge.

Plunging rubber prices will reduce profits of the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) in 2016, as heard during a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 15.

Thailand ’s government pledged to help rubber farmers reduce losses caused by tumbling world prices .

The Joint Coordination Committee on Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Area held its 10th Meeting in the Lao province of Champasak on December 11.