Natural rubber production rises 8%, imports jump 63% in Oct

Natural rubber production rose 8 per cent to 67,000 tonnes during last month, while imports increased 63 per cent to over 62,000 tonnes, according to Rubber Board's provisional data.

Production stood at 62,000 tonnes in October 2017.

Natural rubber consumption also rose to 1.02 lakh tonnes last month from 89,000 tonnes in the same month last year.

Imports rose sharply to 62,047 tonnes from 38,048 tonnes, while exports dropped to nil from 479 tonnes during the period under the review.

During April-October period of 2018-19 fiscal, natural rubber production has fallen to 3.44 lakh tonnes from 3.82 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year. The consumption however, rose to 7,16,040 tonnes from 6,17,960 tonnes.

Imports jumped to 3,56,255 tonnes during April-October 2018 from 2,63,221 tonnes in the corresponding period of last fiscal. In contrast, exports were down to 433 tonnes from 4,687 tonnes.