PROJECTS
A 15-Year Journey Building Rubber Plantations in Cambodia – From Wilderness to 1,000 Hectares in Harvest
In the late 2000s, the global natural rubber market was entering a period of strong growth. Demand from the tire manufacturing, medical equipment, and consumer goods industries was rising rapidly — particularly from China and emerging Asian economies. This was the moment many Vietnamese agricultural enterprises began looking toward Cambodia: a neighboring country with vast agricultural land, a suitable tropical climate, and land costs far lower than those at home.
NETSCO's leadership identified this as a strategic opportunity that could not be overlooked. But rather than rushing into land lease agreements, the company chose to invest time in thorough ground-level surveys — a decision that would later prove its worth many times over.
From 2008 to 2009, NETSCO's survey team made multiple trips across the border into Cambodia, traveling through several northeastern provinces to assess soil quality, water sources, climate conditions, and access to transport infrastructure. The work was far from straightforward. Many promising areas lay deep in rural zones with rough unpaved roads, unclear land-use planning information from local authorities, and a persistent language barrier in every working session with government officials.
After dozens of survey trips, NETSCO made its decision: Snoul District in Kratié Province, northeastern Cambodia, would be the site of the project. This was no arbitrary choice.
The land in Snoul had ideal characteristics for rubber cultivation — well-aerated basalt red soil with good drainage, evenly distributed annual rainfall, a day-night temperature range favorable for stable latex flow, and perhaps most importantly, the area had not yet been developed for large-scale agriculture, leaving the soil's natural fertility largely intact. Kratié's position along transport routes connecting to Vietnam's border provinces also made it practical for moving equipment and personnel during the early construction phase.
In 2010, NETSCO officially signed land lease agreements and began the project through a locally incorporated entity, Sovann Reachsey Co., Ltd. — established to manage all Cambodia operations in full compliance with local law.
The early phase of the project was a period of learning by doing under conditions of limited infrastructure. Clearing and preparing land across a large area of tropical terrain required heavy machinery, technical expertise, and close coordination with local labor. NETSCO recruited and trained workers from communities within Snoul District — meeting on-site labor needs while creating stable employment and income for local residents.
Planting began in 2010 using high-yield rubber varieties selected to suit Kratié's specific soil and climate conditions. Rubber trees require five to seven years before reaching tappable maturity — a long-horizon investment demanding patient capital and long-term commitment from company leadership.
Throughout 2010 to 2015, NETSCO steadily expanded planting area in successive phases while simultaneously constructing internal farm roads, worker housing, drainage systems, and storage facilities needed for the harvest phase ahead. Each year, the technical team conducted regular growth assessments, adjusting fertilization programs and cultivation practices to optimize the development rate of the plantation.
The year 2016 marked a pivotal milestone in the project's history — the first tapping cuts were officially made on the Kratié rubber plantation. After six years of sustained investment and patient waiting, the first 200 hectares had reached sufficient age and trunk circumference to begin commercial harvesting.
This was the moment when the entire NETSCO team felt most acutely the meaning of those years of quiet, persistent effort. The white latex flowing into collection cups in the early morning hours on the red-earth hillsides of Snoul was the tangible result of more than half a decade of land clearing, planting, tending, and waiting.
First-year yields were modest — entirely expected for a plantation entering its initial harvest phase, where productivity naturally builds over several seasons as trees mature. But latex quality from the very first harvest met requirements: dry rubber content was at a good level, with low impurity rates, meeting the specifications of regional buyers and processing facilities.
Building on the foundation of the first 200 hectares, NETSCO accelerated the pace of bringing additional plantation area into harvest in the years that followed. Each year, hundreds more hectares of mature trees entered the tapping cycle, the workforce of trained tappers grew steadily, and cumulative latex volume increased season by season.
By 2019, the area under active harvest had surpassed 500 hectares. Tapping, collection, and preservation processes were progressively standardized through accumulated operational experience. Local tapping workers received structured training in correct blade depth, tapping angle, and tapping frequency to maximize yield without damaging the bark — a factor that directly determines the productive lifespan of each individual tree.
The 2020–2021 period brought significant challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains, restricted cross-border movement, and complicated the deployment of technical staff from Vietnam to Cambodia. However, thanks to the on-the-ground management team that had been built up steadily over the years, plantation operations were maintained continuously and output was not seriously interrupted.
As of 2025, the total area of rubber plantation in active harvest at Kratié has surpassed the 1,000-hectare mark — five times the scale of the early days in 2016. The annual harvest season runs from May through January or February of the following year, representing nine to ten months of continuous production.
The on-site workforce now comprises hundreds of locally recruited and trained employees under Sovann Reachsey Co., Ltd. — from tapping workers and technical supervisors to security and infrastructure teams. This represents a meaningful and stable source of employment and income for communities throughout the Snoul District area.
Current latex output is running at stable and planned levels, with consistent quality maintained season over season through standardized harvesting and preservation procedures. Latex is processed on-site after collection before transfer to processing facilities, ensuring the quality of raw material entering the natural rubber supply chain.
Fifteen years in Kratié represents only the opening chapter of a longer story. Areas not yet brought into harvest still hold meaningful expansion potential in the years ahead as later-planted sections progressively reach tappable maturity.
At the same time, NETSCO is closely monitoring long-term trends in global natural rubber demand — particularly as the rapid growth of electric vehicle production drives increasing tire demand, and as international manufacturers and sustainability frameworks increasingly favor natural rubber over petroleum-derived synthetic alternatives. These are structural long-term trends that directly benefit large-scale natural rubber producers like NETSCO.
With the land base, operational experience, and workforce built over 15 years, NETSCO is well-positioned to continue expanding its scale and deepening the value of its natural rubber supply chain from Cambodia in the decade ahead.
