Compared to the vast extents of rubber
plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and China, Sri Lanka is now
left with only around 114,000 hectares (Ha). Ironically this is a dramatic drop
from the 165,000 Ha level in year 2000. Labour shortages and low prices for
latex were attributed to poor economic returns during 2000 – 2005. Large
extents of the plantation were converted to oil palm and tea. This trend has
now reversed as the price of latex has more than doubled. The rubber tree has a
maximum life span of 30 – 35 years. In order to ensure continuity of the
plantation cover, usually a country-wide average of 3% of the plantation is
annually uprooted and replanted.
This is the industry norm. Depletion during 2000
– 2005 by 51,000 Ha (31%) was possible only because there was one large
consumer for the felled trees. During this period less mature, good latex
yielding trees too were cut down. Now the latex prices are high, and not much
mature trees are available for uprooting. It has been estimated that only
around 2% of the acreage is felled annually.
There were well established industries in the
fields of flooring, industrial brushes, wooden toys and furniture which
consumed exclusively rubber wood. Most of these industries are either fully
closed down today or operating at levels far below their installed capacity
simply because adequate quantities of rubber logs are not available.
The leading flooring company in Sri Lanka
consumed around 20,000 cbm (cubic metres) of rubber logs annually generating
direct employment to nearly 600 people.
Similarly, another brush block manufacturing
company in Attanagalle consumed a like amount employing around 600 people.
Still there are a few companies engaged in the manufacture of added value
rubber wood products mainly for export. The available quantity of saw logs is
only 96,900 cbm per year. Perhaps the five largest companies in Sri Lanka in
flooring and industrial brush export have installed capacity to consume even
more than this available quantity of saw logs. Flooring and brush industry
generate one direct employment opportunity to every 30 cbm consumed annually.
Toys and furniture industries offer one
employment opportunity to every 20 cbm consumed annually. Apart from such
direct employment, many people are employed in the saw milling, chemical and
kiln processing which supplies lumber to the other industries. These primary
industries offer one employment to every 100 cbm of saw logs consumed annually.
In comparison, the process of MDF board (MDF -
Medium Density Fibre) manufacture is very sophisticated and highly mechanized.
An industrial plant with installed capacity of 100,000 tons of MDF board (or
around 138,000 cbm) per year needs around 276,000 cbm of saw logs of rubber
wood.
The difference between the required 276,000 and
available 96,900 cbm (179,100 cbm) is supplemented by the use of rubber wood
branches of over 3” diameter and whatever other types of trees available. Also,
the entire MDF factory can be operated with a work force of 150 people. The
industry norm is less.
This means one employment opportunity is
generated for every 1,840 cbm consumed annually.
There are over 100 small, medium and large
rubber-wood based industries already operating in Sri Lanka. They make over 100
different efforts to procure the total requirement of 96,900 cbm of saw logs
per year.