Highlights
 

•  Jan-Feb 2025 returns from rubber exports up 24% year-on-year
   
• Cambodia focusing on high-yielding CRRI 12 and CRRI 19 clones
   
• ANRPC economist says strengthening processing sector key

Cambodia is emerging as a leading rubber producer in Southeast Asia and is building up the downstream tire industry as well, creating a captive market for the domestically produced rubber. This may have reflected a dip in the volume of rubber exported, but in the first two months of this year, riding on higher rubber prices, the kingdom could fetch an impressively higher export value year-on-year.

Cambodia exported 54,587 tons of rubber latex in January and February of 2025, down 6.3% year-on-year, but made US$105 million in revenue from rubber latex exports, up 24% compared to the same period last year, the General Directorate of Rubber has reported.

"A ton of rubber latex averagely cost US$1,926 during the first two months of 2025, roughly US$475 higher than that of the same period last year. But in February alone, the average price fell to US$1907, down 1.34% from January 2025.  But it reflected a rise of US$441 per ton year-on-year," a GDR official was quoted as saying.

Source: GDCE Cambodia and Helixtap

Improving clones and cultivation techniques

Cambodia is currently focusing on two newly developed clones, CRRI 12 and CRRI 19, that are high-yielding and well-suited to Cambodian conditions, and spreading them to more hectares. It does this as it collaborates with stakeholders to improve rubber cultivation techniques and enhance data collection.

Cambodia’s three tire factories of Chinese origin processed 58,000 tons of Cambodian rubber, carrying a value of around US$96.4 million, in 2024, effecting a spike of over $50 million from 2023.

Cambodia, at present, hosts 179 rubber and rubber wood processing units, up by six units compared to 2023. The rubber sector employs 140,000 people and supports over 425,000 households.

Cambodia’s total rubber plantations are spread across 425,440 hectares, of which 330,250 hectares are under tapping, while trees in 95,180 hectares are in the gestation period.

In 2024, Cambodian revenue from rubber latex and wood exports hit US$671.78 million, up over US$150 million from 2023. Experts say private rubber holdings come to 53% of the total rubber holdings in Cambodia. Half of them have tappable young trees that hold good for the country to increase yield in this decade.

Private estates having edge over smallholders

According to Dr Lekshmi S Nair, senior economist with the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), the comparatively lower yield of smallholdings in Cambodia is balanced off with an efficient operation and a high yield of the private sector (estate) plantations.

“Cambodia is an emerging producer in Southeast Asia, with the production and rubber area of private estate (53%) slightly weighing over smallholdings. The traditional rubber growing area accounts for around 60% of the total rubber area in the country. Half of the private estates’ (former estates under the Economic Land Concession (ELC) converted into private sector plantations) tapped areas have trees in the young age group with the potential to improve the yield of Cambodia in this decade.  Support of the Ministry of Agriculture, the private sector, research and development organizations, and NGOs can potentially enhance smallholdings' yield in the future,” Dr Lekshmi told Helixtap.   

The latex processing is currently insignificant in Cambodia, and Cambodia is now keen on expanding the TSR processing capacity, focusing on value addition and evading excessive reliance on Vietnam.

Getting rid of over-dependence on Vietnam

“Cambodia is currently heavily dependent on Vietnam for its rubber trade. Most rubber produced and processed in Cambodia is currently exported to Vietnam.  Around one-third of the domestic production is exported to Vietnam in the unprocessed form of natural rubber.  With the expansion of processing factories in Cambodia, smallholders could be restricted from selling cup lumps to Vietnamese dealers and traders. With the expected increase in domestic consumption, China’s NR major, Hainan Rubber, is exploring the feasibility of building an advanced processing factory in Cambodia,” said Dr Lekshmi.

The Vietnamese Customs revealed that Vietnam imported nearly 916,200 tons of NR from Cambodia in 2024, over 64.3% of Vietnam’s total imports, worth over US$1.2 billion. Vietnam imported rubber worth US$123.7 million in January 2025 from Cambodia, up 25.3% YoY.

Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) is the top NR investor in Cambodia, with 16 rubber plantation projects covering nearly 90,000 hectares and seven processing centers in seven Cambodian provinces.

Competitive tire exports from Cambodia

In recent years, Cambodia has become a hotspot for tire makers, especially Chinese tire manufacturers, having a favorable trade environment. With these new tire capacities in Cambodia, China tire makers could potentially experience some cushioning effect of the impacts of the US tariff escalation on China's rubber products. “In the short and medium term, this strategy could be effective for competitive tire exports,” said Dr Lekshmi.   

The ANRPC senior economist said Cambodian domestic rubber consumption is expected to expand rapidly with tire capacity investments, both in PC and TBR. “Rising domestic tire demand could provide an opportunity for further investments in associated segments, which could likely soften the impact of the US administration’s additional tariffs,” she said.

The expert said that Cambodia is addressing EUDR compliance in the natural supply chain by collaborating with ANRPC, the private sector, and the certification bodies.