Chinese enterprises currently need to import 1,000-1,300 tons of rubber a day from Vietnam, but its supplies can meet only half of the demand, according to a local trade agency on Monday.

Prices of Vietnamese rubber exported to China have now increased by 1,300 Yuan Renminbi (RMB) (166.4 U.S. dollars) per ton compared with those in mid-December 2006, the Trade Information Center under Vietnam's Trade Ministry said, noting that export prices of SVR3L rubber are now standing at around 15, 400 RMB (over 1,970 dollars) per ton.

Vietnam, the world's fourth biggest natural rubber exporter, shipped abroad 697,000 tons of rubber, mainly to China, South Korea, Japan, Germany and the United States, totaling nearly 1.3 billion dollars in 2006, up 18.7 percent and 58.3 percent, respectively, against 2005, the center said.

Vietnam plans to increase its rubber tree acreage to 700,000 hectares by 2010 from 500,000 hectares in 2005, and build more rubber processing plants in the coming years.

Source: Xinhua