The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Philippine Rubber Farmers Cooperative (PRFC) will start purchasing raw rubber from their members at a price slightly higher than the prevailing market rate.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said the raw rubber will be processed into SPR-20, the semi-processed form, which will be used to manufacture the motorcycle tires under the Pilipinas Agila Tires brand.
According to Piñol, the PRFC has engaged a Valenzuela, Bulacan-based tire factory, Leo Tire Manufacturing Corp. (LTMC), to process the SPR-20 into Pilipinas Agila Tires. The PRFC, which is composed of rubber farmers from Mindanao and Palawan, will market the Pilipinas Agila Tires.
The supply and buy-back scheme of the PRFC and LTMC, Piñol said, is expected to encourage farmers to continue planting rubber and ensure the continuous development of the local rubber industry
“There is only thing we could do to help and that is lift up the Filipino farmer from the status of raw materials producer to the level of a processor and merchandiser of his product,” he said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.
Organized by the DA in 2017 and assisted by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the PRFC entered into a processing and marketing agreement with LTMC.
Under the agreement, PRFC will buy the cup lumps produced by its members and process these into rubber blocks called SPR-20, which will be delivered to LTMC.
Piñol said LTMC will buy the SPR-20 which it will use in manufacturing the Pilipinas Agila motorcycle tires. The tires, which will be bought back by PRFC, will be sold in local stores.
The DA chief said Pilipinas Agila Tires, the first farmer-owned motorcycle tire brand using locally-harvested rubber cup lumps, will be in the market next month and will be cheaper than imported tires.
“President Duterte will be requested to officially launch the marketing of the Pilipinas Agila 300×17 motorcycle tires, which comes exactly one year after the Philippine Rubber Industry Road Map was crafted and presented to him by the DA and the DTI,” he added.
The DA said the cooperative is expected to gain at least P100 for every Pilipinas Agila motorcycle tire sold.
“We, along with our children, will be the marketing agents of the Piipinas Agila tires and we can easily sell these even to our members because almost everybody owns a working motorcycle,” said Armando Pedregosa, president of the PRFC.
Initially, PRFC said only the 300×17 motorcycle tire will be produced as this is widely used and easily marketable in the provinces.
“Our next move is to manufacture other tire sizes, including tires for small tractors like kuliglig,” Pedregosa said.
To jumpstart the venture, Piñol said the DA, through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council approved a P10-million loan as initial working capital of the PRFC. The loan carries an interest rate of 2 percent and is payable in eight years.
Piñol also said the DA expects that local rubber farmers will have their own tire manufacturing plant in Mindanao by 2022.
6 comments
We own a rubber farm in Mindanao, could you give us contact details of a possible buyer ma’am?
I am also rubber farm owner’s, We have stock (latex), where can I get in touch buyer within in Mindanao, please. Thank you.
Hello,
If cup lumps can also be exported from Philippines we may be interested.
Hello! Faizal,
Where can I get in touch to you. Our government in the philippines is “Inutil” to help us rubber farmers to market our production. OUr government encourage us to plant rubber but after which is already “Inutil” to help us market our rubber production.
Hi, i have 2500 rubber tree and ready to produce, but I don’t have buyer and located at mindanao my contacts 09266813639
Hello can i get your email add we can supply latex spr20 if you need pls call at this number 09984520255
Philippines
Thank you