Natural rubber or caoutchouc is a natural amalgamation of organic compounds, mainly isoprene and some others including water. Latex is the main harvest that is collected as a fruit form the trees. Latex is being extracted through incisions made in the bark of the tapped tree. This basic production method is called tapping. The laborers who are mostly women serve the labor-intensive job to get the pouring material. The sticky and white colloid gives forms of polyisoprene classified as elastomers; this form of natural rubber is used by the manufacturers in the production of many end products. The latex of the crop is the basic ingredient with the properties like large stretching ratio, flexibility, strength and resilience. The refined and processed latex has a wide commercial use with extensive range of applications in industrial and commercial sector.
More than 80% of the ‘NR’ comes from Southeast Asia. Latex collected and produced is in metric tonnes. Be mindful that its not the production of synthetic rubber, its natural rubber (NR).
Here is a tabulation of top 5 rubber producers in the world.
| Rank | Country | Production in Metric Tonnes (2011) | % of the World Total | Percent Change (from 2010) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thailand | 3,348,897 m/t | 29.6% | + 9.73% |
| 2 | Indonesia | 3,088,400 m/t | 27.3% | + 12.92% |
| 3 | Malaysia | 996,673 m/t | 8.8% | + 10.86% |
| 4 | India | 891,344 m/t | 7.9% | + 3.40% |
| 5 | Vietnam | 789,635 m/t | 7.0% | + 5.04% |
Do you know:
China, India and Malaysia combine consume 48% of global rubber – the consumption comes within the ANRPC (Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries) as the countries are the members of the global rubber body. This is due to the fact that the countries have extensive use of natural and synthetic rubber in the developed tire sectors. The elite producers from the association are the major consumers of the product. The use is not seized to the tire industries solely, the general rubber goods such its use in clothing, surgical instruments, belting, shoe industry/footwear and hoses etc also has implications.
Hevea brasiliensis, genus Hevea belonging to Euphorbiaceae family of Plant Kingdom, native to Brazil is the standard and almost exclusive source aiding commercial production. The specie indigenous to Brazil concentrated by the industry botanists is cultivated and harvested in different countries across the world by the producers of the crop.
The rubber industry started developing in the world in 1800s after the efforts and then successful attempts of industry botanists and chemists to invent the revolutionary processes of vulcanization and masticator. The demand of the rubber got rapidly increased with the invention of solid and then pneumatic rubber tire. The demand for the rubber insulation and rubberized products were a cause to further nourished the production and supply and thus concluded in the development of modern rubber industry.
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