Vietnam, the world's 4th biggest natural rubber exporter, sold overseas 148,000 tons of rubber worth 250 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year, down 7 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, against the same period last year.

Vietnam is expected to export, mostly to China, South Korea, Japan, Germany and the United States, 830,000 tons of rubber totaling nearly 1.4 billion dollars in 2007, up 19.1 percent and 8 percent over 2006, according to the Trade Information Center under the Vietnamese Trade Ministry.

Vietnam is predicted to reap 233.2 million dollars from shipping rubber to the European Union in 2007, up from nearly 155. 5 million dollars in 2006, some 125 million dollars in 2005, and nearly 83.6 million dollars in 2004. It earned more than 770 million dollars from exporting the product to China last year, the center said.

Vietnam plans to increase its rubber acreage to 700,000 hectares by 2010 from 500,000 hectares in 2005, and build more rubber processing plants in the coming years.

Source: Xinhua