Moenardji Soedargo, Chairman at the Indonesian Rubber Producers Association (Gapkindo), said there currently exist 140 rubber plants with a total combined installed production capacity of 5.2 million tons. However, rubber output in full-year 2015 was only 3.12 million tons, implying a gap (between production and demand) of more than two million tons.

Soedargo added that the natural rubber that Indonesian farmers supply to the 140 plants are the most filthy supplies in Southeast Asia (other key rubber producing countries are Thailand and Malaysia). Therefore, it requires more time at the plants to clean the rubber. As such, Indonesia's upstream rubber industry is the most inefficient and uncompetitive upstream rubber sector compared to its counterparts. As such, Soedargo suggests the government to focus on improving the domestic upstream rubber sector rather than the downstream sector.

Bahas