What we do

In the global rubber market alone, annual turnover at the level of primary raw materials is around 25 billion US dollars. If the next level - the level of processed rubber standard products, i.e. so-called industrial intermediate goods - is included, global rubber trade turnover is even close to 100 billion US dollars.

In the 2020-2025 business cycle, the annual GloReg trading volume is expected to increase to up to US$250 million. This corresponds to a 1 percent share of the primary market and 0.25 percent of global rubber trade. The share of raw rubber and other refined raw materials is expected to be around 250,000 metric tons per year.

Rubber production in Panama is essential for TIMBERFARM, even if it is rather modest in terms of volume and shares with around 18,000 tons annually in the medium term and 30,000 tons in the long term, corresponding to a share of around 10 percent of the entire GloReg rubber business. The TIMBERFARM and PANARUBBER rubber plantations and the GRAN PIEDRA- rubber factory form the foundation of the group. They are the hub of the current and future TIMBERFARM rubber business.

TIMBERFARM is currently one of the most active European traders in this field. The supplier base is growing and consists mainly of large plantations and local cooperatives. In mid-2020, the local purchasing organization was transferred to a TIMBERFARM subsidiary, TIMBERFARM Africa SARL, based in Côte d'Ivoire, which has a broad export license. This ensures the export and trade of other interesting commodities from Ivory Coast and adjacent regions for the world market, e.g. seasonal cashew nuts. In addition to the trading business with raw rubber (cup lump rubber), which is running satisfactorily even during the restrictive Corona period, the TIMBERFARM-GloReg trading department is focusing on the expansion of trading with standard products for the processing rubber industry. The trade mechanism, planned and prepared in this regard, is to procure raw rubber in Panama, Africa and Latin America, process these raw materials at the TIMBERFARM rubber factory in Panama and finally export these products to the North and South American markets. Due to the current general trade slowdown, breakthroughs in this area may be delayed by several months, particularly because the expansion of the new TIMBERFARM rubber plant and the certification and licensing process initiated for the rubber processing industry have been partially or completely stalled due to the blockade. The GloReg trading department assumes that the TSR* trading volume envisaged for 2020 can hardly be achieved, but that it will nevertheless be possible to make a good start in this supreme discipline of the rubber trade this year.