Rubber imports surge 208% in Sep

Global price advantage makes import viable to industries

Rubber import rose 208 per cent in September to a monthly record of 45,581 tonnes, according to Rubber Board data, due to much lower priced abroad. Cumulative import in April–September, the first half of this financial year, rose to 179,292 tonnes against 112,641 tonnes a year ago, a growth of 59 per cent. The sharp rise is mainly because of the lower prices in Bangkok, where the rate for the benchmark RSS-grade is lower by Rs 15-20/kg than the Indian market. Standard Malaysian Rubber [SMR-20], almost on a par in quality with RSS-4 in India, is available at even lower prices.

The ongoing fall in production continued in September, too; it hasn’t reflected in prices because of the import. The local market is bearish, affected by the slowdown. On Tuesday, the local market quoted Rs 166/kg; in Bangkok spot trading, it was Rs 157/kg.

During April–September, production dropped 13.3 per cent to 343,000 tonnes against 395,700 tonnes a year ago.

During April–August, production dropped 15.5 per cent.  Monthly production in September dropped to 78,000 tonnes from 82,000 tonnes in September 2012. Consumption is also down, by 2.7 per cent in April-September, at 489,015 tonnes as against 502,330  tonnes in the same period of 2012-13. The general economic slowdown and setback to the automobile manufacturing industry are the major reasons.

Despite the output fall, the Rubber Board says stocks are up. At the end of September, the country had 230,000 tonnes of rubber (up from 210,000 tonnes at August-end) as against 225,000 tonnes in September 2012.