production_quality_indonesia.pdf

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Information Center for Natural Rubber

www.rubber-foundation.org

The Future Development of Natural RubberProduction and Quality in Indoneia

Introduction

Natural rubber has been and will stay as an important export product forIndonesia. The country is currently the second largest producer of naturalrubber in the world after Thailand. Projection of production, domesticconsumption and export up to the year !"! are gi#en in the following figure.

The present $uantities of rubber by type are %!& Technically 'pecified Rubber(T'R), *& Ribbed 'mo+ed 'heet (R''), & -atex Concentrate and "&others. The Indonesian T'R is 'tandard Indonesian Rubber or 'IR. The majorgrades are 'IR! and R'' ". Rubber produced in Indonesia is mainly exporteddirectly to industrial countries or transhipped through 'ingapore, and most of itis used in the production of tyres.

'mallholder rubber co#ers & of the total Indonesian rubber area (.%million hectares) and contributes /0& of the total rubber production inIndonesia which was ".01 million tons in "%%1.

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The majority of smallholder raw materials is meant to produce 'IR and couldbe generali2ed as field coagula deri#ed from either acid or natural coagulationof latex that ha#e undergone maturation to #arious extents at differentmoisture contents. These coagula are purchased by 'IR factories in the form ofslabs, unsmo+ed sheets or lumps.

3enerally, smallholder coagula were typified as containing plenty of dirt andproduce dry rubber of low PRI, particularly when deri#ed from slabs andscraps. 4igh dirt le#els were normally found in thic+ coagula. The dirt consistedof bar+ sli#ers, lea#es and twigs which often were with purpose incorporated toabsorb moisture, thereby retaining as much water as possible inside thecoagula to pre#ent it from losing weight during storage. This deleteriouspractice was due to the fact that at the #illage le#el, purchase of these coagulawas based on their wet weight, whereas the rubber content was assessed byguessing. 4igh ash contents were found at occasions where the latex wasmixed with clay or fine sand prior to coagulation. This happened when slabswere made in trenches dug in the ground or in wooden boxes where the innersurface was smeared with mud that functioned as releasing agent. -ow andhighly #ariable PRI of rubber processed from slabs and scraps was the result ofdeterioration of natural antioxidants in the coagula during maturation,particularly when the coagula were +ept soa+ing in water. The extent ofdeterioration was further enhanced if the coagulation of the latex portionoccurred naturally without the addition of formic acid as the standardrecommended coagulant, or with the use of alum, sulfuric acid or fruit juices asthe alternati#e to formic acid.

The large #ariations in the +ind of raw materials a#ailable in each producing

region are caused by infra structural constraints, mar+eting practice and localhabits. The Indonesian 3o#ernment and 3ap+indo ha#e been wor+ing togetherintensi#ely to impro#e the condition and cleanliness of smallholder rawmaterials by encouraging farmers to produce thin unsmo+ed sheets and collectclean and loose cup lumps in e#ery rubber producing region to achie#e betterconsistency in technical properties of 'IR throughout Indonesia. 3ood outcomehas been achie#ed in all producing regions. Today the smallholders coagula aremuch cleaner and more consistent due to these efforts.

'IR is generally prepared through blending different types of coagula, forinstance 'IR ! is produced by blending sheet materials with slab or scrap.

5nly 'IR 1 and 'IR "! are usually produced from single raw materials i.e.latex and cup lumps, respecti#ely.

5ne fre$uent complaint about T'R gi#en by se#eral consumers is foreignmatter contamination. Plastic, wood chips, pieces of bar+, pieces of plasticstrings and textile fibers, are among the contaminants reportedly found in 'IRbales. 6s the occurrence of contaminants is hardly detectable through technicalspecification testing or e#en through #isual inspection, especially when therubber already has been pressed in the form of a bale, the presence of thosecontaminants in rubber can cause considerable difficulties to the consumer ifnot detected in the early stages of processing. Contamination, particularly from

wood particles, can also occur from the wooden pallet used for export


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pac+aging. These contaminants can enter to the finished bale surface throughdamage of the bale wrapping.

Natural rubber as an engineering material

Tyre manufacturing companies ha#e become the largest and therefore themost important users of natural rubber (and also of synthetic rubber). 6round/!& of natural rubber supply in the world is consumed by the automoti#e tyreindustries.

7ith regard to Indonesian natural rubber, close to %!& goes into tyres.

Tyres are outworn during usage, as the rubber portion of the tread is 8eatenup9 by the road due to frictional abrasion. Natural rubber has become anessential component in modern tyres, particularly in radial hea#y:duty tyresdue to its superiority in;

mechanical properties heat build:up

green tac+

green strength

cure rate

5n the other hand, natural rubber has been +nown to possess se#eralwea+nesses which limit its use in non:tyre applications, i.e. poor ageing,inferior heat and oil resistance, re#ersion during #ulcani2ation, lac+ of

cleanliness and consistency in rheological, degradation and cure properties.

'e#eral of these disad#antages are inherent to the chemical structure of cis:polyisoprene. Inferior properties such as lac+ in cleanliness and inconsistencyare certainly not inherent, since inside the 4e#ea tree, the rubber latex isnaturally #ery clean and consistent, so in fact it only had to stay that way.4owe#er, improper practices performed on the latex after dropping from thetree all the way to the tyre manufacturing (from T to T) apparently may resultin inferior properties.

Impro#ements in $uality and a#ailability

In recent years, natural rubber producers ha#e been wor+ing together withmajor consumers, particularly the global tyre industries and shippingcompanies to bring natural rubber to cope with the re$uirements of themodern tyre industry.


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conditions and good pac+aging practices. 7ith regard to Cost:effecti#eness,natural rubber price must be +ept competiti#e to maintain its mar+et as a8bul+9 or general purpose elastomer.

Tyre industries ha#e opted for technically and economically the right 8tyregrade9 natural rubber to fit their purpose, namely T'R ! and R'' . 6s a bul+

elastomer, continuous a#ailability or supply security in the long term ataffordable price is deemed #ery important.

Impro#ement in cleanliness

=oreign matter contamination in natural rubber mainly consists of;

bar+ and light wood particles, inserted deliberately or accidentally into

smallholder coagula>

fibers of polypropylene (from used fertili2er:bags), nylon or rafia strings

(from ropes to tie coagula together) and textile rags (included to retainwet weight)>

wood chips from bro+en pallets.

In Indonesia, the most serious drawbac+ is the fact that smallholder coagula inthe form of unsmo+ed sheets, slabs or lumps are purchased at the farm gateon wet:weight basis. This trading practice has resulted in a tendency for thefarmers to retain as much moisture as possible within the coagulum by soa+ingand?or inserting bar+ sli#ers and other moisture retaining stuff.

The Indonesian go#ernment and 3ap+indo ha#e been attempting together toimpro#e the cleanliness of smallholder coagula through nationwidecommitment of 3ap+indo members to purchase only clean coagula forprocessing into 'IR !. The go#ernment, namely the @inistry of 6griculturehas issued #oluntary $uality standards for smallholder coagula in "%%!, whichis presently +nown as 'NI !*:!0/:"%%! ('NI A 'tandard Nasional Indonesia?The Indonesian National 'tandard). The standard classifies rubber rawmaterials into three types, namely unsmo+ed sheets, thin slabs and loose cuplumps.The $uality is specified on the basis of two criteria, which are thic+ness and dry

rubber content.3ap+indo members ha#e adopted this standard in their national commitmentto purchase clean coagula, but the result has not been $uite satisfactory.B#idently the standard can not be properly applied in the field as dry rubbercontent can not be determined accurately at the farmer le#el. =urthermore,loose lumps are almost always transported in old fertili2er bags made ofpolypropylene fiber which is presently the most serious contaminant in T'Rand conse$uently a threat to its usage as engineering material.

6 re#ision of the coagula $uality standard is currently in the pipeline and willhopefully be issued soon. The new standard will be based on one tangiblecriterion only which is thic+ness, so that dirt le#el can be assessed according to

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reference photographs. To a#oid occurrence of loose cup lumps which arein#ariably pac+ed in polypropylene bags, the new standard will no moreaccomodate loose lumps, so the rubber will ha#e to be presented in the formof thin slabs. The new standard will hopefully be included as guideline forpurchasing of 'IR raw materials in the mandatory $uality system (@odule I) asof anuary "%%/.

Pre#ention of contamination from wood particles has been attempted throughthe use of non: wood 'IR pac+aging such as 3oodpac+ @etal box andBn#iropa+ slip:Tray. The use of metalboxes is definitely on an increasing trendwhereas that of slip:Tray is still in the experimental stage.

Impro#ement in consistency

In 'IR processing, impro#ement in consistency has been attempted through;

The application of partial air drying at ambient temperature of wetblan+ets prior to o#en drying at ele#ated temperatures. 6ir drying isusually carried out in large drying sheds for "! to "0 days which allows aholding stoc+ of at least half of the monthly processing capacity of thefactory.This allows intensi#e blending of rubber from different sources to achie#ebetter consistency in the end product. It also enables adjustment ofPo?@ooney le#els in accordance with specific re$uirements of particularconsumers. @oreo#er, partial air drying reduces the se#erity of thesubse$uent o#en drying and o#ercomes the possible occurrence of #irgin

rubber and white spots in the end product. The establishment of 'tatistical Process Control ('PC) in 'IR manufacture.

Duality parameters such as Initial 7allace Plasticity (Po) and @ooneyEiscosity (Er) can be measured rapidly to indicate consistency of theprocess and product by means of F:R Control Charts, which nowadays arewidely applied by most factories.

The modern concept of $uality management in#ol#es Duality 6ssurancethrough the achie#ement of process consistency so that any tendency towardsde#iation from certain set #alues is instantly detectable and subse$uently can

be rectified while the process is in progress. 6s of anuary "%%/, all 'IR andR'' manufacturers in Indonesia will be re$uired to adopt a $ualitymanagement system in order to recei#e product certification according to theIndonesian National 'tandard or 'NI. This has become mandatory and hasbeen decreed by the @inister of Trade and Industry on une "%%*. Thedecree stipulates each manufacturer to adopt either I'5 %!!", I'5 %!! or@odule I $uality management system. @ost of 'IR processors ha#e opted toadopt the @odule I system, which is the most simple $uality system based onI'5 %!!!:series elements for self assessment, designed particularly for smalland medium scale enterprises in anticipation of I'5 %!!! certification later on.

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Impro#ement in cost:effecti#eness

6mong the major natural rubber producers, Indonesia is currently reported toha#e the lowest cost production. Production cost in Indonesia ("%%1) is in therange of G' cent * per +g against %1 to "!* in other countries. This is a resultof the fact that the largest proportion of rubber in Indonesia is produced by

smallholders and deri#ed from their holdings which are in the form ofagroforests. Rubber estates ha#e gradually been con#erted to oil palmplantations as the obtained re#enue from palm oil has been shown to be atleast double to rubber.5b#iously in the future we will ha#e to rely for the supply of natural rubber onsmallholders, not only in Indonesia but also elsewhere.

6groforestry

'mallholder rubber co#ers & of the total Indonesian rubber area (.01million hectares) and contributes /0& of the total rubber production inIndonesia. 'o far only "1& of the smallholder rubber area has been reachedby the 3o#ernmental smallholder de#elopment project.


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claim to it, so rubber agroforestry systems were a means of ac$uiring land.=urthermore, the system is inexpensi#e and re$uires little labour to establishand maintain.

6fter an area is cleared by slashing and burning, rice is planted for the firstyear or two. 6fter that, rubber is planted along with a #ariety of other useful

trees that produce fruit, nuts, timber and rattan. The secondary forestassociated with rubber is biologically di#erse, and the forest: li+e en#ironmentma+es for good soil fertility and $uality and watershed management. 5n thewhole, the rubber agroforestry systems are sustainable alternati#es to theoriginal slash:and: burn process. The sources of income rubber, fruit, nuts andother tree products are di#erse and the system can easily be replaced by anew plantation when it surpasses maturity. It can also be con#erted into apurestanding rubber plantation or it can be managed as a fruit and timberagroforest.

3ap+indo is concerned about the supply prospect of smallholder rubber in the

future, both in terms of $uantity and $uality. The organi2ation is eager to playa role in the impro#ement of the Hjungle rubber, which in reality has greatpotentials in sustaining the green era in the future.Therefore 3ap+indo initiates cooperation with the Regional 5ffice for 'outheast6sia of ICR6= (the International Center for Research in 6groforestry) withfinancial support from the 6gribusiness Je#elopment Project of G'6IJIndonesia.

The cooperation will de#elop ways to con#ert rubber jungles into anagroforestry system that sustains both en#ironmental conser#ation and rubberfarmer9s li#elihood. Pilot projects ha#e been started in 7est Kalimantan

('anggau and 'intang), ambi (@uara


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Dr AFS. Budiman

6fter graduating in "%*/ at the

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