The General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU), has appealed to the government to take immediate steps to ban the export of cup lump [natural rubber] materials from the country in other to save the rubber industry and jobs.

Cup lump is obtained when fresh latex is extracted by tapping into a long cut made in a rubber tree and letting the drips pour into a plastic cup. The substance is then mixed with formic acid to coagulate the latex. The process continues for several days until the required amount is reached.

GAWU, according to it leadership, has observed that government policy on the rubber industry appears to be destroying the industry.

Speaking on the policy, GAWU indicated that it allows buyers to openly purchase cup lump materials and export them without paying taxes.

The call by GAWU comes at a time when the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL), is struggling to find raw materials to feed its 25 million Euro processing factory. The factory was opened in 2020, and it is under the government's One District, One Factory initiative.

GREL says it needs 113 tonnages of cup lump materials to process at its factory on a daily basis. But due to the shortage of raw materials, it intermittently shuts down in order to go in search of raw materials.

During a tour of a plantation site of GREL following the destruction of about 40 hectares of rubber farm plantation, the General Secretary of GAWU, Edward T. Kareweh stressed that “Government must ban the export of cup lump materials because we don’t even have enough. Why do we export? We export the excess. We must first produce to feed ourselves, produce to feed industry then we export the excess.”

He further stated that it was important for the government to ban the export of cup lump materials because of the jobs at stake, indicating that over 70 thousand jobs were at stake if the rubber industry, particularly, GREL goes down.

Acting Factory Manager of GREL, Sampson Boafo, told the GAWU delegation and journalists that the factory is likely to shut down in the next two weeks if they do not get enough raw materials.

“This is the second time we have had to shut down because of a lack of raw materials. We are likely to close down again next week.”

He conceded it was difficult to gather 113 tonnes of raw materials because of the infiltration of other buyers in the rubber market.

This he observed has come at a cost to the company because apart from the daily allowances workers get whilst the factory was working, the machines were also at risk of getting shut down.
Apart from that, the credit facility the company contracted to establish the new factory was also likely to be affected.

Mr Edward Kareweh mentioned that the capacity of rubber producers in Ghana stood at 100 thousand, but have got capacity to produce 140,000.

This means Ghana could still expand rubber plantations to get more rubber to meet the gap.

“It means we should be importing to feed our industry not exporting.”

"However, what has accounted for the gap was that government policy appeared to be destroying our industry because anybody can come and buy and export cup lump materials. The side buyers go to buy from the farmers, they do not support to grow the rubber, neither do they pay workers" he lamented.

However, he says GREL supports the farmers to grow the rubber and pays workers. "Here is a company that creates direct employment of 4,000, and indirect employment of 50,000.

The GAWU General Secretary explained that GAWU was concerned about the activities of side buyers and the lack of raw materials because the company has invested so much in its latest processing factory.

A total amount of 25 million Euros he mentioned "has been invested into the new factory and the factory was not at even its capacity”.

“All these investments will go into the drain. The factory as we speak now, has been close down. What you see behind me is just because it has been closed down for more than a week and they are gathering raw materials."

With the temporary closure of the factory, what it meant to GAWU was that “job is at stake, revenue is at stake and the entire county suffers”.

He continued “I am raising this point because the government recently raised 200 million dollars from the World Bank to support tree crop areas. So if in one vein, you can go and take a loan to support the growth and growing of trees and in another vein, you sit aloof and allow those trees that are already existing to be destroyed, you sit aloof and allow those who do not pay taxes to buy rubber and export, it is that you deny the country revenue and jobs”.

It is as a result of this that, “we are calling on government that it must immediately ban the export of cup lump materials”.