Bridgestone Halts Liberia Rubber Purchases as Prices Raised
Workers pack rubber into a truck on the Firestone campus in Harbel, Liberia.
Photographer: Danielle Paquette/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesFirestone Liberia LLC has halted rubber purchases from farmers after the government raised the price paid to growers.
The Liberia National Rubber Pricing Committee set farmers’ pay at $574.06 per ton of cup lumps or slabs on Tuesday, 15.3% higher than the rate Firestone currently pays. It was the committee’s first decision since the government constituted it last month to review prices every four weeks.