July rubber output down 39% on heavy rains

India's natural rubber output slipped 39 per cent to 40,000 tonnes in July compared with the same period a year ago according to provisional estimates, a Rubber Board official said on Tuesday.

Heavy rains and an outbreak of fever in the rubber-growing regions of Kerala are key triggers for the fall in output, he added.

Abnormal leaf-fall due to fungus infection in certain areas also kept output down, he said.

Rubber output in April - July 2007-08 is down 21 per cent to 185,150 tonnes, compared with the same period a year ago.

Fall in output in July by 25,500 tonnes has brought down total production during the first four months of the current fiscal compared with the previous year, he said.

Natural rubber consumption in April - July has risen slightly to 264,245 tonnes compared with 263,085 tonnes a year ago.

Rubber import to the country rose 35 per cent to 28,942 tonnes compared with 21,399 tonnes in the same period.

However, natural rubber export from the country slipped 60 per cent to 12,499 compared with 31,109 tonnes in the period.

Carryover stock as on July 31 stands at 1,05,000 tonnes, down by around 40,000 tonnes compared with the previous month.

Fall in output due to heavy rains and non-availability of rubber tappers suffering from fever would be overcome in the coming months, board officials said.

Also, good rains are likely to result in better yield from plantations in the coming months, said an official.

Suspension of tapping in many plantations due to absence of workers would also help to have better yields, he added.

However, a section of dealers cautioned sellers in spot markets against holding on to stocks and creating shortages in the market.

The price of the benchmark RSS-4 grade in India at Rs 85 a kg is already high compared with comparable international grades, a dealer said.

Any sharp rise in price here would prompt the user industry to import more, which in turn may lead to the domestic market crashing, he added.