BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand, the world's biggest rubber exporter, may not produce the 3.3 million tonnes it is aiming for this year because mudslides have devastated plantation areas and further heavy rain is forecast, traders said on Monday.
Floods and mudslides have cut off road and air transport in southern Thailand and killed 45 people across 10 provinces.
Seven provinces remained partially under water on Monday and officials predicted heavy rain across the rubber-rich region in the next seven days.
"Our concern is that sporadic heavy rain could hinder recovery efforts, but at this point we don't expect the severe flash floods that we saw last week," said Wiboon Sangruangpong, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Up to 8,000 hectares out of 1.92 million hectares of rubber plantations had been destroyed by mudslides and flooding, according to a provisional estimate from the department.
A rough calculation, based on the 8,000 hectares and a yield of 2,400 kgs per rai, suggests that up to 120,000 tonnes of rubber could be lost.
"We could miss the forecast of 3.3 million tonnes of rubber production this year as some rubber trees were completely destroyed," said a trader at Thailand's Hat Yai rubber centre, referring to a forecast by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The floods have affected more than 2 million people, displaced tens of thousands of villagers and stranded tourists, while damaging over 167,000 hectares of farmland. At least 3,100 roads and over 2,600 houses have been damaged.
The Thai Rubber Association said on Thursday that shipments of at least 50,000 tonnes of rubber had been delayed as some producers had been forced to shut factories temporarily and transportation was disrupted.
"There could be more (damage) but the flood water is still high and roads are cut off, so we can't do a thorough survey yet," Prapas Uernontat, secretary-general of the Thai Rubber Association, told Reuters on Monday.
Industry officials said on Friday that up to 60,000 tonnes of shrimp had been washed away by the floods.
The military and navy used a light aircraft carrier to evacuate thousands of tourists from resort islands last week.
Train services had resumed on Monday to some areas where the water level had subsided. Ferry services from the mainland to resort islands had also resumed operations but the Meteorological Department warned tourists to check the weather before travelling.
The authorities said it was too early to estimate overall damage from the unseasonable rains.
Rubber supply is normally light at this time of the year, which is supposed to be the dry, low-production season, ahead of the Songkran festival in mid-April when business in Thailand grinds to halt. Songkran this year runs from April 13-15.
(Source: http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/Story/A1Story20110404-271696.html)
Posts
0 nhận xét