Year over year, natural rubber shipments accelerated by 51% from $11.2 billion during 2020.
The 5 largest exporters are Thailand, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Vietnam and Malaysia. Collectively, that powerful subgroup of top 5 international suppliers accounted for four-fifths (80.7%) of the worldwide value for all natural rubber shipped in 2021.
Among continents, Asian countries exported $13.2 billion worth or 78.4% of international natural rubber sales. African exporters supplied 13.7% worth of the global total trailed by European suppliers at another 5.8%.
Accounting for a tinier percentage of exported natural rubber were shippers in Latin America (1.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, North America (0.6%) then Oceania (0.1%) led by Papua New Guinea and Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for natural rubber is 4001.
Natural Rubber Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2021.
- Thailand: US$5.5 billion (32.7% of exported natural rubber)
- Indonesia: $4 billion (23.8%)
- Ivory Coast: $1.8 billion (10.6%)
- Vietnam: $1.2 billion (7.1%)
- Malaysia: $1.1 billion (6.5%)
- Cambodia: $399.3 million (2.4%)
- Belgium: $326.3 million (1.9%)
- Myanmar: $293.8 million (1.7%)
- Laos: $261 million (1.5%)
- Guatemala: $223.6 million (1.3%)
- Liberia: $193.7 million (1.1%)
- Philippines: $161.6 million (1%)
- Ghana: $145 million (0.9%)
- Singapore: $132.7 million (0.8%)
- France: $129.2 million (0.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 94.2% of global natural rubber exports in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing natural rubber exporters from 2020 to 2021 were: Belgium (up 149.6%), Ivory Coast (up 72.1%), Liberia (up 68.4%) and Philippines (up 66.2%).
Top suppliers that posted comparatively slower gains in their exported natural rubber sales were Laos (up 22%), Indonesia (up 33.4%) and Myanmar (up 33.8%).
Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Natural Rubber
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for natural rubber during 2021. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s natural rubber exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Thailand: US$5.5 billion (net export surplus up 58.3% since 2020)
- Indonesia: $3.9 billion (up 32%)
- Ivory Coast: $1.8 billion (up 72.1%)
- Vietnam: $630 million (up 344.9%)
- Cambodia: $396.9 million (up 46.6%)
- Myanmar: $290 million (up 32.3%)
- Laos: $257.2 million (up 22%)
- Guatemala: $222.8 million (up 55.4%)
- Liberia: $193.7 million (up 68.6%)
- Ghana: $145 million (up 48%)
- Philippines: $135.6 million (up 62.5%)
- Ireland: $90.4 million (up 2526.1%)
- Cameroon: $66.4 million (up 69.9%)
- Nigeria: $52.2 million (up 262.3%)
- Guinea: $22.9 million (up 12.9%)
Thailand generated the highest surplus in the international trade of natural rubber. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Thailand’s strong competitive advantage under this specific resource category.
Countries Facing Worst Trade Surpluses from Natural Rubber
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for natural rubber during 2021. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s natural rubber import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: -US$3.4 billion (net export deficit up 9.7% since 2020)
- United States of America: -$2 billion (up 55%)
- Japan: -$1.3 billion (up 57.2%)
- India: -$962.2 million (up 82.9%)
- Malaysia: -$668.9 million (down -0.3%)
- South Korea: -$614.5 million (up 43.7%)
- Turkey: -$525.9 million (up 72.3%)
- Germany: -$425.6 million (up 57.2%)
- Brazil: -$415.7 million (up 70.4%)
- Spain: -$395 million (up 54.5%)
- Italy: -$299.7 million (up 68.3%)
- Russia: -$267.8 million (up 51.3%)
- Canada: -$249 million (up 49.5%)
- Poland: -$235.5 million (up 57.7%)
- Mexico: -$226.1 million (up 95.2%)
The People’s Republic of China ran up the highest deficit in the international trade of natural rubber. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific resource category but also signals opportunities for natural rubber-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand of Chinese manufacturers.
Natural Rubber Exporting Companies
Below are rubber manufacturing companies that dominate the worldwide rubber trade, with a focus on rubber tire makers.
- Bridgestone Corp (Japan)
- Michelin (France)
- Goodyear (United States)
- Continental A.G. (Germany)
- Pirelli & C. S.p.A. (Italy)
- Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (Japan)
- Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. (South Korea)
- Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (Japan)
- Maxxis International/Cheng Shin Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. (Taiwan)
- Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. (China)
These 10 companies accounted for almost two-thirds of worldwide rubber tire sales based on data from 2017.
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are also important players in the rubber industry.
- PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia TBK (Indonesia)
- Lee Rubber (Malaysia)
- Transityre (France)
Searchable List of Natural Rubber Exporting Countries in 2021
By value, the 102 exporters in the following automated database generated 100% of natural rubber shipped worldwide in 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Natural Rubber Exports | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thailand | $5,511,069,000 | +58.3% |
| 2. | Indonesia | $4,016,964,000 | +33.4% |
| 3. | Ivory Coast | $1,788,521,000 | +72.1% |
| 4. | Vietnam | $1,192,611,000 | +51.8% |
| 5. | Malaysia | $1,102,817,000 | +41% |
| 6. | Cambodia | $399,349,000 | +46% |
| 7. | Belgium | $326,271,000 | +149.6% |
| 8. | Myanmar | $293,844,000 | +33.8% |
| 9. | Laos | $260,986,000 | +22% |
| 10. | Guatemala | $223,599,000 | +54.2% |
| 11. | Liberia | $193,685,000 | +68.4% |
| 12. | Philippines | $161,591,000 | +66.2% |
| 13. | Ghana | $145,041,000 | +46.5% |
| 14. | Singapore | $132,655,000 | +45.1% |
| 15. | France | $129,200,000 | +48.6% |
| 16. | Germany | $128,664,000 | +62.2% |
| 17. | Ireland | $92,491,000 | +1981% |
| 18. | United States | $88,594,000 | +64.3% |
| 19. | Netherlands | $73,244,000 | +88.8% |
| 20. | Cameroon | $67,342,000 | +70.3% |
| 21. | Nigeria | $57,124,000 | +173.2% |
| 22. | Sri Lanka | $53,060,000 | +63.3% |
| 23. | China | $50,032,000 | +374% |
| 24. | Luxembourg | $42,122,000 | -46.6% |
| 25. | Hungary | $37,305,000 | +3364% |
| 26. | Romania | $35,011,000 | +99.1% |
| 27. | Guinea | $22,948,000 | +13% |
| 28. | Colombia | $19,812,000 | +109.9% |
| 29. | Poland | $18,671,000 | +61.3% |
| 30. | Italy | $16,729,000 | +27.4% |
| 31. | Denmark | $15,237,000 | +1132% |
| 32. | Spain | $14,090,000 | +13.3% |
| 33. | Canada | $11,382,000 | +91.3% |
| 34. | India | $10,866,000 | -41.4% |
| 35. | Egypt | $10,514,000 | +46% |
| 36. | Gabon | $9,853,000 | -75.7% |
| 37. | United Kingdom | $9,073,000 | +49.3% |
| 38. | Papua New Guinea | $8,307,000 | +28.5% |
| 39. | Czech Republic | $8,029,000 | +121.6% |
| 40. | Slovakia | $7,736,000 | +80.8% |
| 41. | Taiwan | $7,567,000 | +46.1% |
| 42. | Turkey | $6,467,000 | +166.1% |
| 43. | Bangladesh | $5,779,000 | +36% |
| 44. | Hong Kong | $5,444,000 | +171.4% |
| 45. | Portugal | $4,906,000 | +257.6% |
| 46. | Brazil | $4,316,000 | +89.8% |
| 47. | Malawi | $4,253,000 | +16.5% |
| 48. | South Korea | $4,198,000 | +30.4% |
| 49. | Sweden | $3,574,000 | +54.3% |
| 50. | South Africa | $3,482,000 | -3.1% |
| 51. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $2,452,000 | -57.3% |
| 52. | Mexico | $2,440,000 | +20% |
| 53. | Serbia | $2,364,000 | -1.7% |
| 54. | Russia | $1,853,000 | +77.5% |
| 55. | Slovenia | $1,400,000 | +803.2% |
| 56. | US Minor Outlying Is | $1,386,000 | +162% |
| 57. | Ecuador | $1,117,000 | +239.5% |
| 58. | Greece | $1,068,000 | -14.1% |
| 59. | Australia | $955,000 | +58.1% |
| 60. | Switzerland | $926,000 | +4.4% |
| 61. | Japan | $745,000 | +20% |
| 62. | Bulgaria | $653,000 | +510.3% |
| 63. | Austria | $634,000 | -11.6% |
| 64. | Finland | $624,000 | +1500% |
| 65. | Chile | $618,000 | -38% |
| 66. | United Arab Emirates | $617,000 | -70.2% |
| 67. | Belarus | $591,000 | +423% |
| 68. | Mali | $338,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Costa Rica | $232,000 | +231.4% |
| 70. | Panama | $217,000 | -53.3% |
| 71. | Armenia | $209,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Tunisia | $201,000 | +402.5% |
| 73. | Iran | $197,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Israel | $183,000 | -7.6% |
| 75. | Norway | $181,000 | +12.4% |
| 76. | Tanzania | $167,000 | +101.2% |
| 77. | Central African Rep | $160,000 | +5233% |
| 78. | Peru | $156,000 | +25.8% |
| 79. | Saudi Arabia | $141,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Saint Helena | $130,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Ukraine | $102,000 | +1175% |
| 82. | Croatia | $90,000 | +1186% |
| 83. | Zimbabwe | $85,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Niger | $82,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Lithuania | $74,000 | +184.6% |
| 86. | Estonia | $70,000 | -71.1% |
| 87. | Equatorial Guinea | $70,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Lebanon | $60,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Uzbekistan | $23,000 | 0% |
| 90. | Libya | $20,000 | +185.7% |
| 91. | Senegal | $19,000 | -17.4% |
| 92. | Pakistan | $18,000 | +80% |
| 93. | Namibia | $18,000 | +800% |
| 94. | New Zealand | $17,000 | -29.2% |
| 95. | Kenya | $17,000 | -59.5% |
| 96. | Honduras | $17,000 | +112.5% |
| 97. | Iceland | $10,000 | -28.6% |
| 98. | Dominican Republic | $9,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Eswatini | $7,000 | 0% |
| 100. | Kazakhstan | $6,000 | 0% |
| 101. | Angola | $1,000 | 0% |
| 102. | Sudan | $1,000 | 0% |
Focusing on all natural rubber exporters, the fastest growers from 2020 to 2021 were the Central African Republic (up 5,233%), Hungary (up 3,364%), Ireland (up 1,981%), Finland (up 1,500%), Croatia (up 1,186%), Ukraine (up 1,175%) and Denmark (up 1,132%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns in the above table. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2020 data was available.
See also Natural Rubber Imports by Country, Thailand’s Top 10 Exports, Thailand’s Top Trading Partners, Indonesia’s Top 10 Exports and Indonesia’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 10, 2022
Global Rubber Markets (GRM), Bridgestone ranks as world’s top tire producer again (September 8, 2017). Accessed on July 10, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 10, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 10, 2022
Wikipedia, Natural rubber. Accessed on July 10, 2022
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on July 10, 2022
