Netherlands increases rubber imports from Vietnamese market

The average export price of rubber to this market dropped by 15.1% to US$1,447 per tonne against the same period from last year.

Vietnam's main rubber exports to the Netherlands were natural rubber, of which the SVR CV60 type recorded the most volume, duly accounting for 53.2% of the total amount of rubber throughout the reviewed period.

According to the statistics compiled by the International Trade Center (ITC), Belgium, Germany, France, China, and Japan represented the five largest markets supplying rubber to the Netherlands last year.

The nation also was the 10th largest rubber supplier to the Netherlands with 8,820 tonnes, worth US$16.13 million last year, up 53.7% in volume and 28.9% in value.

Furthermore, the country’s rubber market share accounted for 2.76% of the total rubber imports of the Netherlands, higher than the figure of 2.02% recorded back in 2021.

These figures indicate that the Vietnamese rubber market share in the Dutch market account for a small proportion of the country’s total import volume.

Furthermore, the Netherlands has moved to accelerate rubber imports from Thailand and China, with the rubber market share of these two markets being also higher compared to 2021.

The Vietnamese rubber industry has been facing numerous difficulties in the post-pandemic period due to internal factors, including fierce competition from rivals in terms of price, product quality, and the ability to meet increasingly stringent sustainability standards set by importers.

Moreover, Vietnamese natural rubber exports remain heavily dependent on China's consumption market and only partially meet the needs of other markets, thereby facing hurdles in penetrating other major countries such as the United States, Japan, and the EU.

Local businesses are therefore advised to diversify products to meet market demand as Vietnamese rubber has to compete with those from Thailand and Ivory Coast in the Netherlands market.