PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION
Rubber is a flexible and elastic material, commonly made from the Hevea brasiliensis trees, that appears as a fluid and is collected and processed into sheets, pellets or liquid forms, depending on its intended use, known for its elasticity, versatility and resistance to many factors, like water or extreme temperatures.
It plays a fundamental role in manufacturing, because it’s a key component in products for both consumer goods and specialized industrial applications, for example tires, footwear, industrial seals and medical devices, and the natural ones in particular are irreplaceable in sectors where synthetic alternatives can’t be used as substitutes.
Rubber is a part of Rubber & articles thereof, a category of the Plastics and Rubbers section that includes a wide range of related by-products like Technically specified natural rubber (TSNR), Natural rubber in smoked sheets, Natural rubber in other forms, Natural rubber latex, and Balata, gutta-percha, guayule, chicle and similar gum.
It also has a Product Complexity Index of -2.21, ranking 1022 out of 1044 products in 2023.
This post will not consider the Rubber trade in general, but it will be focused on the Thai market, the largest exporter of this product in the world.
EXPORT
In 2023 Thailand exported an amount of $3.95B of Rubber, becoming the largest exporter of this category out of 131 countries in the world, with an estimated percentage of 29 of share in global exports; during the same year, Rubber was the 16th most exported product in Thailand out of 1212.
The main destinations of the country’s exports were
- China - $1.38B;
- Malaysia - $523M;
- United States - $393M;
- Japan - $326M;
- South Korea - $159M.
IMPORT
In 2023 it was estimated that Thailand imported around $10.4M of Rubber, becoming the 54th largest importer of the product in the world out of 193 countries, with a 0.076% of share in global imports; during the same year, Rubber was the 881st most imported product in the country out of 1212.
It was imported primarily from
- Burma - $5.7M;
- Malaysia - $2.49M;
- Germany - $1.36M;
- Vietnam - $283K;
- Sri Lanka - $242K.
GROWTH POTENTIAL
According to the source, between 2022 and 2023 the fastest growing markets for the category’s imports and exports in Thailand were the following
MARKETS FOR RUBBER EXPORTS
- Slovenia - $29M;
- India - $16.7M;
- Luxembourg - $13.5M.
MARKETS FOR RUBBER IMPORTS
- Germany - $1.36M;
- Malaysia - $840K;
- Burma - $697K.
CONCLUSIONS
In 2023 Thailand emerged as the leader in the Rubber global trade, thanks to its strong tradition of cultivation, a well-established export network and, especially, the ability to use its natural resources in a way that has significantly increased the appreciation of the category in the world.
To summarize, the Rubber section in Thailand is still deeply connected to the rhythms of local environments, bringing not only international recognition, but also offering life-changing job opportunities for many native communities.
Source: https://oec.world/en
