WHAT IS RUBBER ?
Natural rubber is produced by the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). In order to collect the latex milk from tree, an incision is made in the bark of the rubber tree – which is called ‘tapping’. Depending on the use, following the tapping stage the latex milk is processed in different ways. About 70 per cent of natural latex is used for tires. Other products made of natural rubber are e.g. mattresses, condoms, shoe soles, hot water bottles, balloons, rubber boots and seal rings. Natural rubber can be substituted by synthetic rubber for some applications. Synthetic rubber is made from petroleum (i.e. fossil fuel). In many products – such as car tires – natural as well as synthetic rubber is used.
PROBLEMS IN NATURAL RUBBER PRODUCTION
The production of natural rubber can be characterised with ecological and in some cases severe social problems. Low world market prices for natural rubber make it difficult for latex producers to make a living from tapping rubber. Furthermore, studies document cases of extremely poor working conditions. Typical problems include inadequate safety standards, inappropriate use of toxic chemicals, discrimination, excessive working hours and child labour. Agro chemicals used in the production of natural rubber are less controversial with regard to any residue in the final rubber products. Far more important is that their use threatens the health and well-being of the people involved in the production and processing of the natural rubber.
FIGURES, DATA, FACTS
According to the FAO, almost 15 million tonnes of natural rubber were produced in 2024. This means that global production has doubled since 2000. Due to favourable climatic conditions and the availability of land, around 85 per cent of global rubber production comes from Asia. Based on various available sources, the largest producers in 2024 were Thailand (4.7 million tonnes), Indonesia (2.3 million tonnes), Côte d’Ivoire (1.8 million tonnes) and Vietnam (1.2 million tonnes). The largest rubber importers are China, the USA, Malaysia and Japan. The main driver for rubber imports is tyre manufacturing.
The overall value of the Fair Rubber premium has grown significantly in recent years. In 2025, for example, Fair Rubber members and licencees sourced approximately 4,000 tonnes of rubber (dry rubber content). As a result, 2,000,000 € in Fair Rubber premiums were passed on to joint bodies and groups of smallholder farmers who work with Fair Rubber and meet the Fair Rubber standards.
THE HISTORY OF RUBBER
There are hundreds of plants that produce rubbery juices. However, over the last century, the only one with commercial relevance is the sap of the tree Hevea Brasiliensis which grows in the Amazon rain forest. This is the true ‘rubber tree’ and is not to be confused with the ornamental Ficus Elastica. For centuries the indigenous inhabitants of the Amazon region were aware of the elastic and waterproof traits of the sap from the rubber tree.
However commercial relevance for European countries only came with the vulcanization process invented in 1840 which turned rubber into a durable material so that it lost its stickiness and no longer melted in the heat. In 1876 Great Britain smuggled several tens of thousands of rubber tree seeds from the Amazon; this became the basis for the rubber plantations in South and Southeast Asia which today dominate the natural rubber production.
For the first time, in 1913/14, rubber sourced from plantations overtook the volume of rubber that had been wild-tapped in the jungle. The main user of rubber was, from the very beginning, the automotive industry; in 1900 there were one million cars globally. The world wars increased demand while at the same time supply chains were compromised. This led to increasing research efforts to come up with artificial rubber. By the end of the 1950s the production of synthetic rubber overtook that of natural rubber meaning that today approximately 60% of the material referred to as
‘rubber’ is synthetically produced from petroleum. This has replaced natural rubber not only because of the cost but also due to specific quality parameters. However, for certain premium products, like top hot water bottles or the tyres of jumbo jets, there is no substitute for natural rubber.
