45 people have died because of weeks of unseasonal downpours
First came drought, then came floods. Rubber farmers in Thailand’s south are counting the cost of extreme weather in the world’s top growing region.
“From afar the trees look withered,” said 67-year-old Reang Onnuan, a lifelong rubber grower, looking out at the sea of water from which her trees protruded.
“I don’t know if tens or hundreds have already died,” she said, describing it as the worst flood she had ever seen.
Weeks of flooding because of unseasonal downpours have killed 45 people and brought a halt to rubber tapping at the height of the season in a key area of the world’s biggest exporter of natural rubber.
Concerns over what that could mean for global supply have fueled a rally in international prices to near a fouryear peak.
As a result of the floods, Thai output is expected to fall by 7.6 percent this year to 4.38 million tons, down from the 4.74 million tons previously expected, the Rubber Authority of Thailand said.
40% of natural rubber
Thailand accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world’s natural rubber, most of which is used in car tires. Nearly twothirds of Thailand’s rubber growing area is in the south.
Thailand is one of the world’s most important exporters of agricultural commodities — including rice and refinedsugar.Inrecentyears,it has suffered weather extremes including droughts and heatwaves as well as floods.
The rubber group said it was still early to give a full assessment of the long-term
The floods have affected some 1.6 million people in Thailand and the government has estimated that the economic cost could be $3.4 billion if they last for two to three months.
Because of the floods, prices for unsmoked USS3 rubber sheets in Nakhon Si Thammarat have increased steadily and reached $2.39/kg on Thursday, the highest in almost four years, according to Reuters data.
But most farmers here are seeing no benefit.
“All my trees have drowned. I can’t tap any rubber,” said Charan Maneecharoen, 51, standing almost knee-deep in his flooded farm and wondering how he would support his four children.