The recent lockdowns imposed to contain the pandemic have significantly reduced global carbon emissions; particularly from cars, planes and manufacturing. Yet, the challenge of reversing global warming looms large as ever. Climate change is a major concern for agricultural communities including plantations and smallholdings of Natural Rubber. A change in climatic condition is known to influence the infection occurrence, prevalence and severity of plant diseases. Atmospheric condition and climate change is known to adversely affect the interaction between crops and pathogens in multiple ways, thus affect crop production.

Is the Pestalotiopsis Leaf Disease infestation in South-East-Asia rubber plantations in the recent months due to climate change?

Find out, as experts from both divides, address strategies and measures as they discuss issues pertaining to carbon emission, future of pathogens, disease management models and safe usages of chemicals to be adopted by smallholders, plantations and extension services.

This webinar will provide insights from experts across the rubber industry, looking at the necessary changes needed in the rubber industry to ensure a successful market trading environment for all market participants.

Panellists include representatives from tyre, glove and technology innovation areas, with Trai-Ukos Segsarn, Managing Director of Michelin, and Farah Miller, CEO of helixtap technologies, and is chaired by the Managing Director of SICCRA, Michael Coleman.

Discussion topics will include: What risks are there to the prosperous future of the rubber industry? How achievable are the sustainable goals of the rubber industry? What are the opportunities for technology to support rubber markets and what are the barriers to its uptake?
What provisions need to be in place for market participants so that there is clarity for market pricing and development of market trading?

The prospects for natural rubber prices are rising, boosted by a sharp uptick in demand for protective rubber gloves because of the Covid-19 pandemic and limited supply in the world market. The surge in demand for protective rubber glove has driven rubber producers to shift their output to latex, which is used to make gloves. As an industry highly reliant on natural resources – namely rubber and to a lesser extent oil and gas – the prospect of the rubber gloves industry can be unpredictable.

Find out, as experts from different devices, discuss and argue on the prospect of natural rubber latex gloves industry following the Covid-19 pandemic and how can other NR producing countries could capitalise on this pandemic and spearhead the NR latex gloves production in their country.

What is the prospect of breaking the USD1.60 psychological barrier threshold for NR in 2020? The Brent Crude Oil broke the USD70 barrier in early January 2020. Is this the beginning of an upward cycle or a momentum losing downward trend to hit the NR market? This year marks as the cross-road for commodities including NR, as the sector faces continued geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic concerns. The upcoming US presidential election, the trade balance deal between the US and China, the economic slowdown in Europe and China, the energy transition to lower emissions, to the recent outbreak of Covid-19 Coronavirus disease will once again keep the commodities unpredictable. How will these impact the global economy, the demand of rubber-based products globally, the supply and demand balance and price of NR in 2020-2021?

The natural rubber prices have been on a steady decline since 2011 due to the rising global stocks and the sluggish world economy. To mitigate the impact, the ITRC has instituted a supply limiting program, and the governments of NR producers have provided incentives to alleviate the financial burden of smallholders. Despite the measures, many have or are contemplated to switch to other high-value crops. Is circular economy the potential game-changer to increase the livelihoods of the smallholders? Does certification allow us the access to the premium markets in EU? What about government’s plans and policies in expanding NR consumption?

From autonomous drones and robotics to satellite images and sensor technology, the agricultural industry is changing in a remarkable way. Technological innovations are reshaping the way cultivation is done. Modernization of agriculture and the use of digital technology have caused new concepts to emerge such as precision farming, digital farming and smart farming. The digital technology disruptions have clearly created a new world order to drive productivity, increase the levels of automation and reducing the reliance on human labor and skill sets.

Environmental disruption or destruction of nature’s environment is due to rapid rates of economic development and industrialization. Undoubtedly, unplanned deforestation and soil degradation from excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in plantation activities, and water and air pollutants emitted by unsustainable factory processing are impacting biodiversity and significantly increase risk of climate change. As such, the effects of climatic change have been attributed in the recent distribution of plant diseases in South-East-Asia. With the advances of space and drone technologies, can these disruptive innovations provide solutions to our environmental issues?

Manufacturing is a key component in the rubber industry for both latex and rubber product. However, this segment is slow in embracing automation and smart factory new technologies. Common challenges faced are accessing to skilled labor-force, high workplace accident rates, issues relating to quantity and timely delivery of raw materials, regular silo machinery downtime and managing right inventory level. With the advent of Industry 4.0, technological innovations in Smart Factory solutions are flurrying to solve problems and improve quality, boost efficiency, energize production processes and reduce costs in the overall factory operations ecosystem.

Over 70% of global consumption of natural rubber goes to tire manufacturing, and the balance is consumed by the automotive and the latex-dipped good sectors. Efforts to liberalize the market to prevent a monopolistic or an oligopolistic control by one or two sectors is ongoing. New innovations and technologies from autonomous to electric aerial and road vehicles, from 3D printings to robotics, from the safety of airport runway to passenger roads – research institutions are pushing for new applications to consume more Natural Rubber.

Economists are pointing to the oversupply of NR as the main factor for the continuous decline in rubber prices. The overhang stocks are attributed to the slumped in global tire sales as a result of prolong poor performance in the global economy. Over 70% of the total global consumption of NR goes to tire manufacturing. As such, this has created an imbalance and monopolistic control of single product demand consumption. It is now apt for the NR industry to explore new applications into High-Rubber-Content and High-Value Products to expand the NR supply-chain.