Ghana risks forfeiting an estimated US$1.36 billion in foreign exchange earnings, thousands of jobs, and significant industrial growth opportunities if the country continues to export raw rubber rather than process it locally, the Rubber Processors Association of Ghana (RUPAG) has warned.
The Association said the country was effectively exporting jobs, taxes and industrial opportunities to competing economies and argued that the temporary restrictions on raw rubber exports were necessary to reverse this trend and maximise national economic benefits.
In a statement issued in Takoradi yesterday, RUPAG said projections indicate that Ghana could generate approximately US$1.36 billion in additional foreign exchange earnings between 2026 and 2031 through domestic processing and value addition.
It added that continued exports of raw rubber could also result in foregone tax revenues estimated at approximately GH¢326 million over the same period.
According to the Association, every tonne of rubber exported in raw form represents lost opportunities for domestic employment, manufacturing growth, transport and logistics activities, port revenues and broader economic development.
Exporting jobs to other economies
Pointing to global trade patterns to support its argument RUPAG said recent market intelligence published by Helixtap, a Smartkarma Group company, Ghana currently accounts for approximately 15.2 per cent of Malaysia’s natural rubber imports.
The Association noted that while Malaysia increasingly relies on imported raw materials, including rubber from Ghana, to sustain its downstream manufacturing industries, create jobs and expand exports, Ghana risks losing these same opportunities by continuing to export raw materials.
“The implication is clear. Every tonne of raw rubber exported from Ghana contributes to creating jobs, generating foreign exchange and strengthening industrial capacity elsewhere instead of in Ghana,” the Association stated.
Ghana has no surplus rubber for export
RUPAG further argued that Ghana currently does not produce sufficient rubber to support both significant exports and domestic industrial expansion.
Industry data indicate that Ghana produced approximately 110,800 tonnes of natural rubber in 2025, against an installed processing capacity of approximately 171,460 tonnes, resulting in an annual structural raw material deficit of more than 60,000 tonnes.
Factory utilisation had fallen to only 41 per cent, reflecting the severe shortage of raw materials available to local processors.
“Even if all natural rubber produced in Ghana were supplied to local factories, existing processing plants would still be unable to fully utilise their installed capacities,” the Association noted.
Under such circumstances, RUPAG said proposals for export quotas were difficult to justify on economic grounds.
Early data suggest policy yielding positive results
The Association also dismissed claims that the temporary export restrictions had negatively affected farmers, traders, and aggregators.
According to RUPAG, available data indicate that domestic market activity has rather increased significantly.
Between January and June 2026, local processors purchased approximately 30,967 tonnes (dry) of raw rubber, compared with approximately 21,627 tonnes during the same period in 2025, an increase of approximately 43 per cent.
Purchases from traders and aggregators increased from approximately 5,987 tonnes during January-June 2025 to approximately 13,431 tonnes during the same period in 2026, representing a 124 per cent increase.
Purchases directly from farmers also increased from approximately 15,640 tonnes to approximately 17,535 tonnes, representing a 12 per cent increase.
The Association stated that the figures indicate that farmers, traders, and aggregators continue to have access to a substantial and expanding domestic market.
It further noted that processors have continued to purchase rubber at prices exceeding the monthly minimum factory gate prices announced by the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA).
“The available evidence does not support claims that the policy has destroyed market opportunities. The early indicators suggest that the policy is beginning to support increased domestic market activity and industrial growth,” the Association stated.
Supporting industrialisation and 24-hour economy
RUPAG said the temporary export restrictions were fully aligned with the Government’s industrialisation agenda and the implementation of the 24-Hour Economy Policy.
According to the Association, local processors have already begun increasing production, increasing employment and preparing to progressively move towards multiple production shifts.
“Industrialisation cannot succeed if strategic raw materials continue to be exported without value addition. No country has built a strong manufacturing economy by exporting jobs and importing finished products,” it stressed.
National choice
The Association said Ghana now faced a strategic economic choice stating that “The choice before the country is whether to continue exporting raw materials and the associated jobs, taxes and industrial opportunities or to process locally and build a globally competitive rubber industry that benefits farmers, traders, transporters, processors and the broader economy.”
RUPAG therefore called on all stakeholders to support policies that increase domestic value addition and strengthen Ghana’s industrial base.
It stressed that farmers, traders, aggregators, processors, transporters, freight forwarders, nursery operators, regulators and government all had a shared interest in building a sustainable and globally competitive natural rubber industry.
“The national interest requires that Ghana derive maximum value from its natural resources and ensure that more jobs and wealth are created here at home rather than abroad,” the Association stated.
It would be recalled that the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry with immediate effect, placed a 10-year ban on the exportation of raw natural rubber from Ghana as part of efforts to boost local industrial production and value addition.
The directive, signed by the sector minister, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, on April 27, follows a Cabinet decision and discussions held at the Office of the President under the Accelerated Export Development Programme.
BY TIMES REPORTER
