Sri Trang Agro-Industry Plc (STA) reported a record net profit of 15.9 billion baht in 2021, up 13.4% from the previous year.
Sales of rubber last year reached its target of 1.3 million tonnes, increasing STA's share in both the domestic and overseas markets.
Veerasith Sinchareonkul, chief executive of STA, said 2021 was a "golden year" for the company, with revenues from sales and service reaching 118 billion baht, up 56.7% from the previous year, the highest in a decade.
Net profit reached a historic high of 15.9 billion baht, while gross profit in natural rubber operations exceeded 12% in all four quarters, setting a new standard for the industry, he said.
"Our natural rubber sales over the past year increased considerably. Our machines for all types of rubber ran on average 70% of the time all year round, compared with 55% in 2020," Mr Veerasith said.
"Specifically for block rubber, our machines in Thailand ran on average for more than 80% of the year, compared with 57% in 2020."
He expects 2022 will be another year of sustained growth.
The company projects sales of natural rubber to increase to 1.6 million tonnes, more than 20% higher than last year's tally. Contributing factors for the sales projection include market expansion in Thailand and overseas, an uptick in the global natural rubber industry as well as the firm's continued expansion of production capacity throughout all quarters.
Mr Veerasith said STA's facilities in the provinces of Phitsanulok, Bueng Kan, Sakon Nakhon and Trang will increase capacity by more than 290,000 tonnes for block rubber production per year.
Meanwhile, the firm's plants in Bueng Kan, Narathiwat, and Surat Thani's Kanchanadit district will increase production of concentrated latex by more than 180,000 tonnes per year, he said.
The sales price for TSR20 block rubber on Singapore's futures exchanges is expected to rise, averaging at least 171 cents per kilogramme this year, up from 167 cents per kg in 2021.
