The study examined the profitability of
Natural Rubber Production and Processing by Delta
Rubber Company Limited, Okomoko/Umuanyagu Etche,
Rivers State. The objectives of the study were to assess the
average yield of rubber plants per hectare from the
different plantations, to examine the annual turn-over
and profit of the company for the period 2001-2004 and to
identify the problems affecting the operation of Delta
Rubber Company Limited. The Company has five (5)
Rubber Plantations with a total hectarage of Ten
Thousand Seven Hundred (10,700) hectares. Also the
company has a crumb rubber processing factory situated
at Umuanyagu Etche, with a capacity of about Six
hundred (600) matric tonnes of crumb rubber per month
or 23MT per day. But it is presently operating between
20-40% capacity utilization, processing about 10-12 MT
per day. A review of the balance sheet and income
statement of the company for the years under review
showed that there was an increasing inflow of profit.
Various analysis based on NPV, BCR, IRR, CCR, NCR
shows as follows- (NCR>1) 1.78,3.85,3.89,4.36 for the
period of 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 while (CCR>1) with
0.804, 1.28, 1.56, 1.45, Return on Assets (ROA) was
114.7%,89.7%,84.37%,77.4% all proves that the Delta
Rubber Company made profits during the period under
review. However, some problems were identified such as
insecurity frequent stealing and vandalization by youth,
inadequate attention by the Government. The researcher
therefore recommended that there should be improved
company/host community relationship, adequate security
arrangement and additional capital funding by the state
Government to enable the company expand its scope of
operations, and produce export grade crumb to attract
foreign exchange and boost our Agro-sector economy.