Rubber growers plan to set up new benchmark

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for about 70 percent of natural-rubber output, plan to set up a regional physical market to try to create a new benchmark for the commodity, according to a trade group.

The market would help producers trade with more transparent and reliable prices, Tjahjono Budiarto Tjandra, chairman of the Committee on Strategic Market Operations at the International Rubber Consortium Ltd, said in an interview in Bali on Monday. Representatives from the three governments met on the Indonesian island on Monday to discuss stabilizing prices.

Rubber has slumped in Tokyo this year as Europe's debt crisis raised concern that demand may drop. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), which trades that benchmark, is tracking the contract plan. The initiative may involve the Indonesia Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand and the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, Tjandra said.