KOCHI: Country’s natural rubber production declined by 2.5% to 39,000 tonnes in April from 40,000 tonnes in the prior-year month, showed figures from the Rubber Board.
However, consumption saw an upswing, rising by 5.2% to 85,000 tonnes from 80,815 tonnes in April 2015. In India, the tyre industry is the largest consumer of natural rubber, accounting for 66% of the overall consumption. The rest is consumed by the non-tyre sector.
“Globally, there is an excess supply scenario, at least in major rubber producing countries. However, in India, we have a peculiar system where there is an extreme tightness of supply. This needs to be addressed on a priority mode. When our GDP is going to grow at the rate of 9% – 10%, how will we meet the demand for rubber?” said Rajiv Budhiraja, director general of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA).
“On a short-term level, the government should make import simpler and hassle-free. On a longer-term, India should augment the production of rubber,” he said.
“Kerala is saturated now. So, you have to look at the North East as a composite entity and promote rubber planting there. If Vietnam could grow its production from 3 lakh tonnes to over 1 million tonnes in 10 years’ time, we could also do it,” he added.
Figures show that natural rubber consumption had been on a steady increase from 1990 onwards globally. The natural rubber consumption, which was at 5.18 million tonnes in 1990, grew to 5.95 million tonnes in the next year and eventually touched 12.16 million tonnes by 2014.
