TRANG, July 22 – Thai para rubber business owners in Trang have opened a new market in India which was well responded to by Indian customers with orders of up to a million tonnes of para rubber products.
Trang governor Maitree Inthusut told a news conference that ten para rubber and processed para rubber business owners visited Chennai, New Dehli and Kolkata from July 10-16 to seek new markets in cooperation between the province and Thailand’s Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce.
Most Thai para rubber and processed para rubber has been exported to China, the only major market, he said; therefore, a new market for the goods is needed to absorb risks or a possible slowdown of orders in the future and to serve extension of para rubber plantations of more than one million rais (400,000 acres) nationwide.
He said the province targeted expanded investment to the west, particularly India, with its high purchasing power and need for para rubber for its auto production industry.
Trade negotiations in the three cities gave fruitful results with new orders of up to million tonnes of para rubber products such as flooring, dried processed wood, parquet, and tires.
Wooden furniture and parquet were ordered to decorate about 300 rooms, while para rubber wood was ordered to make cartons for containing solar cell panels.
The customers also are interested to travel to observe para rubber processing factories in Trang to see the standard of the products and plan to submit new orders soon.
The province expects to increase its income from selling para rubber from Bt400 million to Bt500-600 million within 2012, the governor said.
