Sri Trang Agro-Industry Public Company Limited (STA) is the world’s largest fully integrated natural rubber company, selling approximately 1.42 million tonnes of natural rubber in 2025. STA accounts for 13% of global natural rubber demand and 39% of Thailand’s production (as of June 2026) and has operations in key rubber-producing countries, including Thailand, Indonesia and Côte d’Ivoire, reflecting the scale and reach of its supply chain.
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) introduced a new and challenging requirement for STA: they had to trace their rubber back to the exact plantations it came from and prove that none of those plots had been deforested after December 31, 2020. Meeting this requirement was essential for STA to keep its access to the EU market.
The Industry Challenge: The Limits of Open-Source Data for Smallholder Assessment
STA’s primary challenge was the industry-wide reliance on open-source datasets that, while useful for broad screening, may not be detailed enough for assessing individual smallholder farms.
Resources like the EU’s Joint Research Council global forest cover map and Global Forest Watch datasets lacked the detailed resolution needed to properly assess local topographies, especially at the fine scale of smallholder farms. Especially, as rubber plantations go through regular cycles of tapping, clearing and replanting.
For example, of the 16,400 land plots submitted for analysis, these generalised datasets flagged more than 97% for further review. If STA had relied on these datasets alone, many compliant plots would have been treated as high-risk, causing severe supply chain disruptions. That would have unfairly shut STA, and the thousands of smallholders it sources from, out of the EU market.
The cause would not have been actual deforestation, but poor data quality and methodologies that lack the depth to tell real forest loss apart from normal plantation activity.
For many smallholders, losing access to STA's EU supply chain would have meant losing a major source of income, or even their entire livelihood
The TradeAware Solution: Protecting STA’s Supply Chain & EU Market Access
LiveEO partnered with STA to provide TradeAware, its end-to-end EUDR solution, which combines satellite imagery with proprietary AI models to assess deforestation risk.
STA already runs their own digital traceability system and has always been open to new technology that improves procurement, traceability and sustainability. Rather than replacing that system, TradeAware builds on it by adding accurate, up-to-date, plot-level monitoring of STA's mapped plantations.
The impact was clear across the 16,400 land plots STA submitted through TradeAware. Open-source screening had flagged more than 97% of these plots for further review.
TradeAware's plot-level analysis found that just 1.98% did not meet EUDR requirements. That means around 98% of the original flags were false positives, clearing more than 15,500 compliant plots that would otherwise have been held up for review.
Without this level of accuracy, STA would have faced a huge manual workload. Each flagged plot would have needed to be investigated individually, through reviewing satellite imagery, checking land records, and following up with suppliers, before it could be approved. Assuming an average of 10 minutes per plot, clearing more than 15,500 false positives would have taken over 2,500 hours of manual review.
That is the equivalent of more than 300 eight-hour working days, or well over a year of full-time work for one person. TradeAware saved STA that time, along with the costs of such a large manual review.
The time cost was only part of the risk. Products originating from plots that could not be reviewed and verified in time could not be sold into the EU. STA would then have faced delayed shipments, lost revenue, and damaged relationships with their EU customers.
Smallholders whose plots were wrongly flagged risked losing access to one of their most important markets through no fault of their own. By separating real risks from false alarms, TradeAware allowed STA to focus its due-diligence efforts on the small number of plots that truly needed attention, while keeping compliant rubber flowing to the EU.
Why TradeAware stood out
As a leading European geospatial company, LiveEO was uniquely positioned as one of the very few providers able to meet STA's strict requirements.
STA needed a solution that was highly accurate across its sourcing regions of Thailand, Indonesia and Côte d'Ivoire, and reliable even for small smallholder farms. It also had to scale to analyse thousands of plots at once and fit into STA's existing procurement, traceability and sustainability systems.
Just as importantly, it had to come from a trusted name that STA could rely on to settle disputes when customers raised conflicting deforestation assessments.
Transforming Compliance into a Competitive Advantage
STA saw EUDR compliance as an opportunity to establish themselves as a leader in sustainable rubber production, and it is one they have successfully seized.
Having achieved EUDR compliance early, they have secured their access to the EU market and can now show clients clear evidence of their sustainable practices.Their early-mover status also gives them a competitive edge, with the potential to command greater trust and smoother access with EU buyers.
Building the Future of Responsible Rubber Sourcing
STA's technical partnership with LiveEO gives them a strong foundation for meeting the constantly changing demands of the global natural rubber market.
By combining STA's deep industry experience with LiveEO's satellite-based expertise, the partnership has helped STA build robust due-diligence systems and give their customers greater confidence in the origin and compliance of their products.
Integrating TradeAware with STA's own digital platforms has also made supply chain monitoring and risk assessment more efficient. As expectations for supply chain transparency and responsible sourcing continue to grow, these capabilities help STA spot emerging risks early and make informed procurement decisions quickly.
The partnership is also driving continuous innovation. STA and LiveEO work closely together to develop new functionality across their digital ecosystems, so they can respond as regulations and market requirements in the natural rubber industry evolve.
With TradeAware embedded in their due-diligence approach, STA continues to lead the next generation of responsible natural rubber sourcing. Together, STA and LiveEO are building a more transparent, inclusive and sustainable natural rubber supply chain, one that rewards responsible producers and keeps smallholder farmers connected to the global market.
