Earlier this year, Prime Minister Hun Manet called on Cambodian tire manufacturers to prioritize the use of locally produced natural rubber in their production lines — a move that creates new opportunities for Cambodian rubber farmers and promotes domestic value addition in the sector.
Rising Rubber Exports and Improved Prices
Table of Contents
According to a new report by the General Directorate of Rubber (GDR) under Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the country’s rubber exports grew by 1.72% in the first seven months of 2024, reaching 173,915 tons of natural rubber.
Mr. Khun Kakada, Acting Director General of the GDR, said the average export price during this period was USD 1,547 per ton, an increase of nearly USD 147 compared to the same period last year.
Cambodia’s main export destinations include Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and China. Rubber is cultivated across 407,172 hectares, of which 320,184 hectares (78.6%) are mature and ready for tapping.
Toward Building a Domestic Rubber Processing Industry
“The rubber industry is undergoing a major transformation with the establishment of tire manufacturing plants,” said Philippe Monnin, General Director of Memot Rubber Plantation.
He noted that while Cambodia has cultivated rubber since 1910, it has historically focused on exporting raw rubberrather than processing it domestically.
“In the 1960s, Cambodia had a local tire factory producing Cambodian-made tires. However, it shut down in the early 1990s. Recently, large tire producers have requested significant volumes of local rubber, but the quality of domestic rubber processing remains insufficient to meet international manufacturing standards,” Monnin said.
Currently, major tire producers, such as General Tires Technology, Sailun Group, and Qingdao Doublestar Group, are operating in Cambodia, but most still rely on imported rubber from neighboring countries due to quality constraints.
Challenges for Smallholders and Environmental Concerns
For small-scale farmers, the situation is even more challenging — they continue to export unprocessed raw materialswithout access to domestic processing facilities.
Monnin emphasized that wastewater management is a major technical barrier:
“Rubber coagulation requires acid treatment, meaning the discharged water cannot be released directly into the environment. Every factory must install appropriate treatment systems to handle wastewater safely,” he explained.
To improve sustainability, plantations are also adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). These include maintaining cover crops between rubber rows during the six- to seven-year growth period to prevent soil erosion and retain moisture.
“We have been conducting industrial-scale trials on cover crop planting since 2021, and the results have shown significant improvements in soil quality,” Monnin added. The trials are being expanded in cooperation with the Cambodian Rubber Research Institute.
Government Policy to Support Farmers
Prime Minister Hun Manet’s directive to promote domestic rubber use represents an important policy shift toward reducing export dependency and strengthening local manufacturing capacity.
By linking rubber plantations with emerging tire manufacturers, Cambodia hopes to stabilize prices for farmers, increase rural income, and build a more resilient and value-driven rubber industry.