What The Rubber ‘Apocalypse’ Means For The U.S. Economy

I'm from Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia who is also a major producer of rubber. Let me explain why the rubber is in danger. Rubber trees are no longer just clones but they are also genetically engineered to grow fast and produce latex soon. Usually within 4 years. These new generation trees are smaller and weaker and prone to falling down during storms. I had experienced it several time and dare not drive out from my orchard during rainstorm out of fear for broken branch and trees. Many decades ago, rubber trees takes a long time to grow and they grow huge. Nearly 8 to 10 years of growth before you can start tapping them. They produces a lot of latex per tapping each day. People don't use the small bowl you see today. They nailed a small tank on the trees. The trees are huge, resistant to disease and weather. A single tree produces far more than several trees today. That is what we get from greed. Short term profit but long term loss.

I live in Thailand and the farmers here are not making much money from rubber, most prefer to grow rice, because even if you can't sell it, at least you can eat it.

my father was rubber tapper; rubber is dirt cheap locally and hard for the locals to make good living. The big companies are making tons of money buying rubber cheaply. Not a fair world.

Translation = Yes we are going to raise the price on everything including rubber. You will own nothing and be happy.

The media loves words like “apocalypse.” It gets them eyeballs.

My God, everything is an apocalypse these days.

Well then. Time to finally actually recycle the mountains of used tires we have.

"Aren't you gonna put a condom on?" "Girl, haven't you heard we're in a RUBBER APOCALYPSE?"

Don't worry - I'm sure that rubber will bounce back sometime.

There's about to be a cheeseburger apocalypse at my house right now.

I thought most rubber was synthetic these days

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“There are synthetic rubbers, but sometimes it can’t be swapped out for the real thing because of natural rubber’s particular properties. Take airplane tires as an example; gotta be 100% natural rubber. And most natural rubber doesn’t come from the U.S.; not even North America.” Great example there…that really helped me understand natural rubber’s properties and why you can’t just substitute synthetic rubber.

Someone wake me when the four horsemen get here…

An important addition: natural rubber can only be stored for 2-5 years, it breaks down over time even with careful storage conditions. So it is hard to stockpile in its natural form.

Having more than one source of income is the best way to secure your future.

The new scare is ___ SHORTAGES! tune in next week to find out what house hold item will suddenly skyrocket 500% in value!

I feel so guilty flicking that rubber band and losing it.

It's sobering to realise just how fragile the systems we rely on are.

the majority of modern rubber isnt natural rubber, this is pandering to fear.