Weird rubber fact: the price of natural rubber is
 controlled by the price for unrelated synthetic
 (petroleum based) rubber, produced since 1932.
Natural rubber is made from latex, tapped directly
 from rubber trees.  It looks like Elmer’s glue.
Each worker taps about 400 trees per day.
A healthy tree can produce rubber for 25 years! 
Asia has the perfect climate
for rubber plantations.  Vietnam
 is 5th in the world for natural
rubber production, but the
fastest growing.