NEW DELHI: India's natural rubber export dried up completely in July against 9,299 tonnes in the same month last year, as domestic prices far exceeded global rates, according to the state-run Rubber Board.
The outbound shipment of natural rubber has also shrunk to 834 tonnes since April, compared with 25,599 tonnes in the same period last fiscal. The slump may prompt the government to trim its natural rubber export target of 50,000 tonnes for this fiscal.
“Domestic prices have been ruling far above the global prices, prompting large consumers like tyre makers to import more, making export a less profitable option. Lack of demand in the international market, too, has hit the export,'' a senior board offici al said.
The wide gap in the domestic and global prices reflected in the import of natural rubber, which surged over eight-fold to 20,412 tonnes last month. India had imported only 2,589 tonnes of the natural variety in the same month last year.
The gap in prices is wide. Natural rubber price stood at Rs 10,050 a quintal at Kottayam on Monday, while the rate of the RSS-3 variety of rubber was ruling at Rs 9,540 a quintal at SICOM in Singapore.
However, the production of the natural variety declined by 19 per cent to 50,500 tonnes in July from 62,550 tonnes a year before as a result of “climatic changes'
Source : Business Line