North Sumatra's Earning from Rubber Export Declines  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - North Sumatra's earning from exports of rubber and rubber goods declined 27.38 percent in the first half of the year on weak demand, as reported by Antara News.

"North Sumatra's exports of rubber and rubber goods were valued only at US$814.54 million in the first six months of the year down from US$1.12 billion in the same period last year," the North Sumatra office of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said.

Export volume also declined because of the falling price and weak demand in the world market as a result of the global crisis, head of the regional office of BPS Wien Kusdiatmono said on Saturday.

Rubber is the second largest export earner for North Sumatra after crude palm oil, the exports of which also decline from the province.

The shrinking exports of the two commodities resulted in a 1.62 decline in the provinces total exports in the first half of the year from the same period last year.

The provinces total export earning in the January-June period this year were valued at US$4,719 million down from US$4,797 million in the same period last year.

Executive secretary of the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Federation of Rubber Companies (Gapkindo) Edy Irwansyah said the price of rubber is still weak at around US$1.6 per kilogram far below the price considered normal at US$2.5 per kilogram.

The price fall resulted in a 7.64 percent decline in exports to 234.05 million kilogram from 253.42 million kilograms.

ANTARA