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COMMODITY
PHUSADEE ARUNMAS
A railway and port strike is taking its toll on the country's rubber shipments, prompting foreign traders to shift to buying rubber from Malaysia and Indonesia, according to local exporters.
Luckchai Kittipol, president of the Thai Rubber Association, said foreign traders had already halted purchases from Thailand as they were not confident in the transshipment to customers after railway and port unions went on strike in sympathy with anti-government protesters.
State Railway of Thailand union members have been on strike since Aug 28. Port Authority of Thailand union members shut down Klong Toey port in Bangkok last Wednesday and it reopened late Friday, though activity is not yet at normal levels.
However, damages have yet to be estimated.
''Exporters hope the situation will return to normal soon,'' said Mr Luckchai.
Von Bundit Ltd, Thailand's biggest rubber exporter, said the railway strike had stalled about 2,000 tonnes a day of its shipments.
Von Bundit, which sold around 500,000 tonnes of rubber last year, sends most of its goods by train to ports in Bangkok and Penang, Malaysia.
Thailand's is the world's biggest rubber producer and exporter, with about 200,000 tonnes of shipments a month. Transport by rail is estimated at 10,000 tonnes a month.
However, Mr Luckchai, also chief executive of Thai Hua Rubber Plc, a major rubber producer, said his company had yet to see its transport stalled, as it had shifted to use other modes including trucking services and private ports to handle product delivery.
Thai Hua currently ships about 30,000 tonnes of rubber of a month.
However, he said the company had encountered transshipment costs of $30-50 per tonne higher than normal.
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