The price of natural rubber has gone up from a ridiculous 80 cents a kilo to around 6 ringgit in recent time for the small scale rubber tapers and as a consequence some rubber trees that have been neglected for almost two decades are not being tapped once again by the local farmers. It's mind boggling to think that a 1.5 liter bottle of latex is considerably cheaper than that of mineral water!
But now natural rubber prices has reached a 20-year high in Malaysia with natural rubber prices having shot up dramatically in the last six months on the back of rising global demand and a weather-related shortfall in production from the other rubber producing countries. Rising oil prices and the corresponding increase in the costs of synthetic rubber production could herald the return of natural rubber's viability in the commodities market.
Typically the local farmers would set out as early as 2 am to tap the rubber trees as the latex yield is low once the sun is up. Rubber tapping is once again back in vogue! Even previously discarded manual rubber mechanical presses are now being used again to squeeze out the water before they are being dried out in the sun or kiln.
It's amazing what you can discover and see floating through a rainforest river in Sarawak! Yeah, it's a natural high; and when was the last time that you felt like that on the public transit or highway?
Stumble It!HHmmm.. better plant those rubbers seeds of mine quick. Who knows, I might make some quick bucks!!!
Reminiscing the good old days eh uncle? Life in the rural areas are idylic yet tough but the simple pleasure they have is an experience we shitty i mean city people never have.
Young people today have never seen arubber tree, much less see latex being processed into rubber sheets. Should send them kayakking with you lak, fh2o...or maybe it can be one of the activities in the khidmat negara programme! Much better than teaching them how to shoot guns!!!
Quite bounce in the rubber price. ;^)
I hope it does some farmers good.
The price of natural rubber has gone up from a ridiculous 80 cents a kilo to around 6 ringgit in recent time for the small scale rubber tapers and as a consequence some rubber trees that have been neglected for almost two decades are not being tapped once again by the local farmers. It's mind boggling to think that a 1.5 liter bottle of latex is considerably cheaper than that of mineral water! 
Wuching said: 
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