Côte d’Ivoire is Africa’s largest rubber producer, with an annual output of 230,000 tons of rubber. In 2015, the international rubber market price fell to 225 West African francs/kg, which had a greater impact on the country's rubber industry, related processing companies and farmers. Côte d’Ivoire is also the fifth largest palm oil producer in the world, with an annual output of 1.6 million tons of palm oil. The palm industry employs 2 million people, accounting for about 10% of the country’s population.
In response to the rubber industry crisis, President Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire stated in his 2016 New Year’s address that in 2016, the government of Côte d’Ivoire will further promote the reform of the rubber and palm industries, by increasing the ratio of income to output and substantially increasing farmers’ income, Guarantee the benefits of relevant practitioners.
Côte d’Ivoire’s natural rubber has developed rapidly in the past 10 years, and the country has now become Africa’s largest producer and exporter.
The history of African natural rubber was mainly concentrated in West Africa, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia, as typical African rubber-producing countries, which used to account for more than 80% of Africa's total. However, during the period 2007-2008, Africa's production fell to around 500,000 tons, and then steadily increased, to about 575,000 tons in 2011/2012. In the past 10 years, the output of Côte d’Ivoire has risen from 135,000 tons in 2001/2002 to 290,000 tons in 2012/2013, and the proportion of output has risen from 31.2% to 44.5% in 10 years. Contrary to Nigeria, Liberia’s production share has decreased by 42% during the same period .
Côte d’Ivoire’s natural rubber comes mainly from small farmers. A typical rubber grower generally has 2,000 gum trees up and down, accounting for 80% of all rubber trees. The rest are large plantations. With unremitting support from the Côte d’Ivoire government for rubber planting over the years, the country’s rubber area has steadily increased to 420,000 hectares, of which 180,000 hectares have been harvested; the price of rubber in the past 10 years, the stable output of rubber trees and the stable income they have brought, And relatively little investment in the later stage, so that many farmers actively participate in the industry.
The annual output of rubber forests of small farmers in Côte d’Ivoire can generally reach 1.8 tons/ha, which is much higher than other agricultural products such as cocoa, which is only 660 kg/ha. The output of plantations can reach 2.2 tons/ha. More importantly, rubber After the forest starts to be cut, only a small amount of investment in chemical fertilizers and pesticides is required. Although the gum trees in Côte d’Ivoire are also affected by powdery mildew and root rot, there is only a limited proportion of 3% to 5%. Except for the deciduous season in March and April, for rubber farmers, the annual income is stable. In addition, the Ivorian management agency APROMAC also through some rubber development funds, according to 50% of the price, about 150-225 XOF / rubber seedlings provided to small farmers for 1-2 years, after the rubber trees are cut, they will be returned at XOF 10-15 / kg. To APROMAC, greatly promoted local farmers to enter this industry.
One of the reasons for the rapid development of Côte d’Ivoire rubber is related to the management of the government. At the beginning of each month, the country’s rubber agency APROMAC sets 61% of the rubber CIF price of the Singapore Commodity Exchange. In the past 10 years, this kind of regulation has proved a great incentive for local rubber farmers to find ways to increase production.
After a brief decline in rubber between 1997 and 2001, starting in 2003, international rubber prices continued to rise. Although they fell to around XOF271/kg in 2009, the purchase price reached XOF766/kg in 2011 and fell to XOF444.9/kg in 2013. Kilograms. During this process, the purchase price set by APROMAC has always maintained a synchronized relationship with the international rubber price, making the rubber farmers profit stable.
Another reason is that since the rubber factories in Côte d’Ivoire are basically close to the production areas, they usually buy directly from small farmers, avoiding intermediate links. All rubber farmers can generally get the same price as APROMAC, especially after 2009. In response to the increasing production capacity of rubber factories and the need for competition among regional factories for raw materials, some rubber companies purchase at a price of XOF 10-30/kg higher than APROMAC rubber to ensure production, and expand and establish branch factories in remote and underdeveloped areas. Glue collecting stations are also widely distributed in various rubber producing areas.
Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber is basically all exported, and less than 10% of its output is used to produce domestic rubber products. The increase in rubber exports in the past five years reflects the increase in output and changes in international rubber prices. In 2003, the export value was only 113 million U.S. dollars, and it rose to 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2011. During this period, it was around 960 million U.S. dollars in 2012. Rubber became the country's second largest export commodity, second only to cocoa exports. Before cashew nuts, cotton and coffee, the main export destination was Europe, accounting for 48%; the main consumer countries were Germany, Spain, France and Italy, and the largest importer of Côte d’Ivoire rubber in Africa was South Africa. imports of 180 million U.S. dollars in 2012, followed by Malaysia and the United States in the ranking of exports, both are about 140 million U.S. dollars. Although China is not large in number, it only accounted for 6% of Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber exports in 2012, but the fastest growing country, The 18-fold increase in the past three years shows China's demand for African rubber in recent years.
In recent years, despite the involvement of new companies, the main share of Côte d’Ivoire rubber has always been occupied by three companies: SAPH, SOGB, and TRCI. SAPH is a rubber business subsidiary of SIFCA Group of Côte d’Ivoire. It not only has rubber plantations, but also purchases rubber from small farmers. It produced 120,000 tons of rubber in 2012-2013, accounting for 44% of Côte d’Ivoire’s total rubber share. The remaining two, SOGB, which is controlled by Belgium and TRCI, which is controlled by Singapore GMG, each account for about 20% of the share, and some other companies and small-scale enterprises account for the remaining 15%.
These three companies also have rubber processing plants. SAPH is the largest rubber processing company, accounting for about 12% of the production capacity in 2012, and is expected to reach 124,000 tons of production in 2014, with SOGB and TRCI accounting for 17.6% and 5.9%, respectively. In addition, there are some emerging companies with a processing volume ranging from 21,000 tons to 41,000 tons. The largest is the CHC rubber factory of SIAT in Belgium, accounting for about 9.4%, and 6 rubber factories in Côte d’Ivoire (SAPH, SOGB, CHC, EXAT, SCC and CCP) total processing capacity reached 380,000 tons in 2013 and is expected to reach 440,000 tons by the end of 2014.
The production and manufacture of tires and rubber products in Côte d’Ivoire has not developed much in recent years. According to official data, there are only three rubber companies, namely SITEL, CCP and ZENITH, which have a combined annual demand of 760 tons of rubber and consume less than 1% of Côte d’Ivoire’s output. There are reports that more competitive rubber products are from China. Affect the development of rubber end products in the country.
Compared with other African countries, Côte d’Ivoire has advantages in the rubber industry, but it also faces many challenges. The biggest one is the continued downturn in international rubber prices in recent years. The decline of more than 40% in the past two years has also affected the country’s efforts to rubber farmers. The purchase price dampened the confidence of rubber farmers. In recent years, the high price of rubber has caused the supply quantity to exceed the demand. The price of rubber fell from XOF766/KG at its peak to 265 in March 2014 (XOF 281/ in February 2015). KG) This has caused small rubber farmers in Ivory Coast to lose interest in further development.
Secondly, the changes in Côte d’Ivoire’s taxation policy also affect the industry. The lack of taxation caused the country to introduce a 5% rubber business tax in 2012, which is based on the existing 25% corporate income tax and the XOF7500 per hectare levied on various plantations. Taxes levied on the basis. In addition, companies still pay value-added tax (VAT) when exporting rubber. Although Ivorian rubber producers can promise to get a partial refund from the tax paid, due to the difficulties of the government’s huge bureaucracy, this refund may cost several dollars. year. High taxes and low international rubber prices have made it difficult for rubber companies to make profits. In 2014, the government proposed tax reforms, abolishing the 5% rubber business tax, encouraging rubber companies to keep purchasing rubber directly from small farmers, protecting the income of small farmers, and encouraging rubber Continued development.
International rubber prices are sluggish, and the output of Côte d’Ivoire will not decline in the short term. It is obvious that the production will increase further in the medium and long term. According to the 6-year harvesting period of the plantation and the 7-8 year harvesting period of the small farmers’ rubber plantation, the output of rubber trees planted before the peak of the rubber price in 2011 will only gradually increase in the coming years, and the output in 2014 reached 311,000 Tons, exceeding expectations of 296,000 tons. In 2015, the output is expected to reach 350,000 tons, according to the country's APROMAC forecast. By 2020, the country's natural rubber production will reach 600,000 tons.
The China-Africa Trade Research Center analyzed that as the largest rubber producer in Africa, Côte d’Ivoire’s natural rubber has developed rapidly in the past 10 years, and the country has now become the largest natural rubber producer and exporter in Africa. At present, Côte d’Ivoire’s rubber is basically all exported, and its industry of producing and manufacturing tires and rubber products has not developed much in recent years, and less than 10% of its output is used for domestic rubber processing and production. There are reports that more competitive rubber products from China have affected the development of rubber end products in the country. At the same time, China is the country with the fastest growth in rubber exports from Côte d’Ivoire, showing China’s huge demand for African rubber in recent years.
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