Natural rubber import drops in February as prices increase in key markets

Consumption dropped to around 83,000 tonnes in February

India's natural rubber (NR) import in February was half of that a year before, at 15,609 tonnes. Industry representatives say this was mainly due to an increase in prices in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, key sources for Indian tyre makers, the largest consumer of rubber.

On Wednesday, the RSS-4 variety in India was Rs 14,600 for 100 kg or $224.77 in Kochi, as compared to Rs 15,094 or $232.4 in Bangkok.

Intermittent showers in most of the growing areas and relative improvement in the price might mean fairly good production in March, too, says the Rubber Board. Production in February was