Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Staking Bets on Natural Rubber

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 15 2004 (IPS) - – Guatemalan producers of natural rubber are working to boost the 50,000 metric tons they harvest each year. They want to take advantage of the rising international price of synthetic rubber, a petroleum-based product. The prices for natural latex are higher than two years ago, rising from 89 to 1.22 cents on the dollar per kilo, but there needs to be more technology in production, Hans Peter, president of the Guatemalan Association of Latex Technicians, told Tierramérica.

The local market consumes nine percent of production, and the rest is exported without value-adding processing, heading primarily to Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Guatemala dedicates some 350,000 hectares to growing chicozapote (Manilkara zapota), the tree from which the raw material for making rubber is extracted. The industry involves 1,100 producers and generates 20,000 jobs, mostly in the north, northeast, and the southern coast.

Peter said that most of the trees are relatively young and that the species lives at least 40 years