THE PRICE of dry rubber has increased by more than 236 percent year-on-year in the Kingdom, according to a report by Cambodia’s General Directorate of Rubber.

According to an organisation paper, obtained Sunday, the price of rubber sold to international markets this month reached US$3,700 per tonne. In April last year, rubber was sold for only $1,100 per tonne, with a 2009 market high of $3,000 per tonne.

Ly Phalla, director general of the General Directorate of Rubber, said Sunday that such sharp increase in rubber prices has not been seen for 60 years. It has resulted from demand outstripping supply, he said.

Last year, because of the unfavourable weather and unusual heavy rainfall in major producing areas such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, world production decreased around 6 percent.

“We hope that the price of dry rubber will keep on increasing,” added Ly Phalla.

Mork Kim Hong, president of Cambodian Rubber Association, said: “I believe that the increase in rubber price will help encourage Cambodia, which still has a small number of rubber plantations, to grow more and more rubber trees."

So far, much of Cambodia’s 130,000 hectares of rubber cultivation consists of young crops, which have not yet yielded. In 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported that Cambodia produced 37,000 tonnes of rubber, 36,000 tonnes of which was exported.