IN SHORT: Vietnam 2011 rubber imports jump

Vietnam, the world's fourth-largest exporter of natural rubber, stepped up its imports of the commodity last year which helped enable record shipments in 2011, customs data show. The Southeast Asian nation imported 343,000 tonnes of rubber as of December 15, 2011, or 14.7 percent above the amount it imported during the whole of 2010, Vietnam Customs data seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed.
The finance ministry-run department has yet to issue data for rubber imports for the whole of 2011.