IRCo, China Rubber Industry Association To Form Joint Working Group

("IRCo, China Rubber Industry Association To Form Joint Working Group," at 0341 GMT, misstated the month of Tocom's
benchmark contract in the seventh paragraph. The correct version follows:)


SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--The International Rubber Consortium and the China Rubber Industry Association will form a joint
working group to counter price volatility in natural rubber, IRCo acting chief executive Yium Tavarolit said Wednesday.

The two organisations decided to form the group during a meeting at an industry conference in China Tuesday, Yium
said.
"The CRIA made the request to work together so as to reduce price volatility. We will be coming up with a joint work
plan in the future. They said they were suffering due to record high rubber prices earlier," he said.
The working group will be set up this year.
China is the world's largest natural rubber consumer and importer. IRCo members include Indonesia, Malaysia and
Thailand, the world's major producers.
Benchmark natural rubber futures on the bellwether Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose to a record high of Y535.7 a kilogram
on Feb. 18, but have since fallen sharply. The contract was trading at Y357.4/kg at 0320 GMT Wednesday.
The benchmark August Tocom rubber contract rebounded during the evening session Tuesday and is trading in positive
territory Wednesday, after falling more than 10% over the first two days of the week due to expectations that demand
from Japan will drop sharply in the near term because of the damage caused by Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

Yium, who is returning to Bangkok on Wednesday, said IRCo member countries are monitoring current rubber prices and
will convene an urgent meeting if prices resumed their sharp declines.
"We will be monitoring prices closely," he said.
He said Tuesday that IRCo is likely to convene a meeting this week to discuss measures to support natural rubber
prices following the sharp drop in prices.