Global rubber consumption has steadily increased in recent years, according to statistics released by the international rubber research organisation (IRSG).Global rubber consumption reached 2.8277 million tons in 2017, an increase of 3.0% over the same period last year.

Among them, China's rubber consumption accounted for 30%, ranking the first in the world for three consecutive years. Statistics show that China's rubber consumption in that year was 9,4432 thousand tons, up 2.9 percent. After a year-on-year growth of 3.0 percent in 2016, China's rubber consumption continued to grow strongly, exceeding the year-on-year performance for two consecutive years. China's domestic car industry has seen steady growth in production of cars and commercial vehicles, boosting rubber consumption, the report said.

Emerging Asian countries such as India, Thailand and Vietnam also saw steady growth in rubber consumption, which, together with China, boosted global rubber consumption.

In addition, the highest growth rate among the top 15 countries in rubber consumption is Vietnam, ranked 12th in 2016, with a growth rate of 20.5% in 2017. Vietnam, with its cheap Labour force, has lured electronics manufacturers such as Japan and South Korea to invest in factories, the report said. Vietnam, the new production base of asean, is striking, and the growth in rubber consumption is expected.

Among southeast Asian countries, Indonesia ranks 6th in rubber consumption with 971,800 tons, up 5.7 percent year on year. Malaysia ranks eighth with 893,000 tonnes, up 6.8 per cent year on year, and its rubber consumption has been driven largely by demand for cars, motorcycles and tyres for cars.