The International Rubber Association (IRA) was inaugurated in Ottawa, Canada on 24 September 1971 through the corporation of rubber associations in both producing and consuming countries. Currently, IRA consists of 21 members from 13 countries. The Thai Rubber Association is one of the initial members and a member of the Management Committee. With the term of 2 years, IRA is led by a nine-member Management Committee, four of which are member associations from producing countries while the other five are those from consuming countries. The objectives of IRA are to formulate rubber trade practices, to prepare international rubber contracts, to foster international cooperation on rubber production, trade and consumption among producing and consuming countries, to collectively solve any problems in connection with international rubber trade as well as to facilitate continued improvement in international rubber trade. The Secretariat office of IRA is currently located in the Thai Rubber Association’s building.

IRA arranges Management Committee meeting once a year. This year, the Management Committee Meeting of the International Rubber Association was held at Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore on Sunday, 19 March 2017. In representation of TRA, Mr. Paul Sumade Lee, IRA Chairman, Mr. Supadetch Ongsakul, IRA Executive Secretary, Ms. Piyaporn Saelim (TRA manager) and Mr. Prasit Petnoosed (TRA staff) participated in the meeting. Other associations present comprised Malaysia Rubber Exchange (MRE), Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX SICOM), Rubber Trade Association of Europe (RTAE), Rubber Association of Indonesia (Gapkindo), Rubber Trade Association of Japan (RTAJ), Rubber Trade Association of Singapore, Myanmar Rubber Planters & Producers Association (MRPPA) and Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA).

Prior to the meeting, the IRA Chairman gave a commencement address regarding the state of rubber industry as follows. Since last year, prices have been sold down very aggressively in the face of stronger US dollars and weaker global economies. SHFE rubber funds have excessive influence in the pricing of the natural rubber prices, many of which simply do not reflect the real cost of the physical rubber, resulting in the withdrawal of many participants of the physical rubber from SGX SICOM and TOCOM. The volumes in SGX SICOM has collapsed to as low as 2,000 lots from the standard 8,000 to 10,000 lots per day. The time has come for us to take a leadership to make a change to this casino mentality by encouraging lesser speculation in our industry and better still lesser number of dealers/funds engaging in our industry particularly those in SHFE. In addition, a news article dated 9 March 2017 released by India Times entitled “Natural Rubber output to surpass demand by over 3 million tonnes in 2017 says ANRPC” was brought to the attention of the IRA Chairman that India Times gave a misleading data on rubber demand figures with reference to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). This does not include information from non-members, viz., USA, Japan, Korea, and the EU, resulting in possible misunderstanding which may give a negative impact on rubber farmers.

Several important matters were vastly discussed at the meeting. TRA reproduced copy of the RSS 1-5 samples according to Green Book with reference to RSS Master Samples 1968. The samples were adopted by TRA Management Committee at its meeting held on 22 February 2017. The meeting adopted the amended IRA Contract for TSR, which will be effective on and after 1^st June 2017. The meeting agreed that the current Management Committee be maintained for the term 2017 – 2018, with Japan Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (JRMA) in place of Rubber Trade Association of Japan. The meeting agreed that the current posts of Chairman (Mr. Paul Sumade Lee, TRA), Deputy Chairman (Mr. Howard A. Evans, RTAE), Executive Secretary (Mr. Supadetch Ongsakul) and the Secretariat (TRA) be maintained for another term.

The IRA Management Committee meeting 2017 was successfully organized. Praises were heard from all who attended the meeting. On behalf of the Thai Rubber Association, I wish to thank Mr. Paul Sumade Lee, IRA Chairman and Mr. Supadetch Ongsakul, IRA Executive Secretary as well as the Secretariat of TRA for making the meeting a huge success. I hope that IRA will always be an important part of the corporation between producing and consuming countries for continued development of international rubber trade.