*Rubber Supply Tightness Lasting Until 2018 May Raise Costs for Tiremakers*
Global supply of natural rubber will remain “tight” at least during the next seven years as output gains among key growers fail to match rising demand from tire and glove makers, according to a producers’ group. “Tightness in supply will continue until 2018 as production growth is marginal or moderate,” Jom Jacob, a senior economist at the Kuala Lumpur-based Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries<http://www.anrpc.org/>, said in an interview in Bangkok yesterday. The member countries of the group, also called ANRPC, represent 92 percent of global supply. Limited supplies may help boost a 47 percent rally in rubber futures in Tokyo <http://topics.bloomberg.com/tokyo/> in the past year, potentially increasing costs for companies such as Bridgestone Corp. (5108)<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=5108:JP>, Michelin & Cie. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT)<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GT:US>, the top three tire makers. Prices may remain “strong” until next year as persistent rains limit gains in output, Pongsak Kerdvongbundit, president of Thai Rubber Association, said yesterday. A large number of producing rubber trees, which were planted during 1980s, will have to be uprooted between 2012 and 2018, reducing total area of plantations worldwide, Jacob said. Farmers delayed cutting down trees to take advantages of high prices, he added. Rubber advanced to a record 535.7 yen a kilogram ($6,768 a metric ton) on Feb. 18 as global demand led by China <http://topics.bloomberg.com/china/>outstripped supply and after rain and flooding curbed output in Thailand and Indonesia <http://topics.bloomberg.com/indonesia/>, the two largest exporters. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/rubber-supply-tightness-lasting-until-2018-may-raise-costs-for-tiremakers.html '+'
