Though there may be a small surplus of natural rubber in the market for the next few years, the supply will be short of demand from 2020 onwards, said Sheela Thomas, secretary general of Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC).
Speaking at the ninth annual rubber conference of ANRPC, an inter-governmental organization of major rubber producing countries, at Guwahati on Monday, she said the price of natural rubber is not determined by demand and supply alone, but is strongly influenced by the general trend in commodity market, crude oil prices and exchange rate of currencies of major NR-exporting countries. Owing to this, NR prices need not always reflect the imbalance between demand and supply.
Earlier inaugurating the event K K Mittal, additional chief secretary and production commissioner of Assam urged the stakeholders to target a paradigm shift in thinking, conceptualizing, formulating and implementing development strategies to sustain NR.
He said that there is a growing concern on climate change and its impact on crop production. Research in rubber plantation sector should focus on the impact of climate change on rubber cultivation and strategies to combat the possible adverse impact.
He also said that rubber product manufacturing sectors in India and abroad have not accorded due recognition for the environment-friendliness of NR while deciding on the raw material composition.
Rubber Board chairman Ajith Kumar said prolonged slump in demand and price of NR, currently being witnessed, can be attributed mainly to supply-demand imbalances emanating from production cycles typical to perennial crops; deceleration in industrial activities globally; and relatively low petroleum prices.
Projections by international agencies generally indicate that low commodity prices would prevail for some more time before recovering, he added. He released a new rubber clone, RRII 208, developed by Rubber Research Institute of India for exclusive cultivation in the northeast.
The theme of the ANRPC Conference this year was “Preparing for the Paradigm Shift”.
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