MALAYSIA WELCOMES ACCORD ON NEW RUBBER PACT
Malaysian Primary Industries
Minister Lim Keng Yaik welcomed the basic accord reached over
the weekend in Geneva between producers and consumers on a new
International Natural Rubber Agreement (INRA).
    "This is a good development and if a new pact is adopted
this week it will augur well for the rubber industry and prices
in the long term," he told Reuters here.
    Negotiators at a United Nations conference on a new INRA
resolved differences and agreed last Saturday on basic elements
for a new pact to replace the current one, which expires in
October.
    Conference Chairman Manaspas Xuto said legal drafting of
the new pact will begin this week and it is expected to be
formally adopted by some 40 countries on March 20.
    Malaysia, the world's top producer, acted as spokesman for
producers at the talks, which began on March 9.
    Malaysian traders said they expected prices to firm by a
few cents on the news that a pact is expected to be adopted.
    Prices will also firm in the short term because some
370,000 tonnes of rubber held in INRA buffer stock will not be
liquidated with a new pact in sight, they said.
 REUTER
