Natural rubber output up 7% in July

Natural rubber (NR) production continued to record an increasing trend in July as the cumulative output during April – July period increased to 238,400 tonnes, registering a growth of 5.8 per cent. It was 225,250 tonnes in the same period of last financial year.

As per the provisional estimates of the Rubber Board, the total consumption during the period was up by 4.8 per cent at 323,875 tonnes as against 309,050 tonnes. The production of NR for July increased by 7.2 per cent to 62,700 tonnes compared to 58,500 tonnes during July 2010. But consumption in July increased only by 1.9 per cent to 82,000 tonnes compared to 80,500 tonnes.

At the end of July, the total stock in the country has increased marginally to 247,490 tonnes compared to 180,958 tonnes in the same month of last year. The board estimated a total stock of 247,442 tonnes at the end of Q1 of 2011-12, was against 180,697 tonnes in 2010 June.

Though the industry associations like Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and All-India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) strongly refute this, the Rubber Board is confident of such a huge domestic stock.

Onkar S Kanwar, chairman, Apollo Tyres, recently said that it was the availability of NR, not the high price, that was a serious concern of the industry. He said that even at the higher prices, the supply of rubber was not enough to meet the industry requirements.

According to various local traders, the actual stock in the market would be around 80,000 tonnes. Both ATMA and AIRIA have appealed the government to allow duty-free import of 200,000 tonnes of rubber to tide over the supply constraint.

During April – July period, the imports increased to 62,056 tonnes as against 56,208 tonnes in the same period of last fiscal. Export has recorded 100 per cent growth at 9,504 tonnes as against 4,347 tonnes. Rubber production rose 5.4 per cent during April – June period (Q1) while consumption had grown 3.9 per cent.

Total production in the period was 175,700 tonnes as against 166,750 tonnes in the corresponding period of last FY. Cumulative volume of consumption increased to 242,000 tonnes as against 232,850 tonnes.

Export of rubber has almost doubled in April- June period to 8,189 tonnes against 4,323 tonnes in April – June period of 2010-11. Marginal rise recorded in the case of import as 41,929 tonnes were brought in as against 38,233 tonnes.