KOCHI: Natural rubber growers are at their wit’s end faced with the continuing slide in the prices. Prices fell as much as 9% since July 1, touching RS 132.50 per kg on Tuesday, the lowest in four-and-a-half years.
The recent declaration by Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the import duty for the commodity will not be raised further has only compounded their woes, given the 48% rise in imports in the four months this fiscal year.
During this heavy rain season in Kerala, most of the small growers have not gone for tapping for the simple reason that the present price is not sufficient to cover the operational cost of putting up a rain shade, labour charges and prices of fertilisers. “A grower has to spend RS 20 to RS 25 for a rain shade and the wages have increased. Even those who go for tapping are doing it in small trees only,” says P M Thomas, managing director of Pala Rubber Marketing Co-operative Society, the leading rubber co-operative of farmers.
The slump in rubber prices seems to have affected the economy of Kottayam, the rubber district of Kerala. The growers are unable to sell their estates as the realty prices are down. The domestic rubber prices are moving in line with the global prices, which have been sliding for some time now due to oversupply.
Thomas feels that government should look at the prospect of exporting rubber by providing subsidy to help the growers, especially since its procurement programme remained a non-starter owing to lack of funds.
The big estates too have been affected by the falling prices, says a senior officer of Harrisons Malayalam, the largest rubber grower in the country.
“The average price we get works out to be RS 110 a kg as about 25% of the rubber we get belong to the lower grade of technically-specified rubber. At the same time, the cost, including that for replanting trees, comes to around RS 160 a kg.” The government ban on felling rubber trees has blocked the company’s revenues.
“For the four months ended July, we have suffered a loss of RS 16 crore, of which RS 6-7 crore has come from rubber. We are seriously considering reducing operational cost since the prices are not likely to go up,” he added.
– India Times
