Tyre and other user industries have expressed concern over the disparity in rubber stock figures. The have now pointed out at the anomalies to the Commerce Ministry.
In a letter to the Additional Secretary (Plantations), who is also the Chairman of the Expert Committee to draft the National Rubber Policy, the industries said that data on rubber stock at the end of August, as released by the Rubber Board, show a discrepancy of about one lakh tonnes.
According to the user industry, based on the opening stock of rubber in April and factoring the key parameters of production, consumption, import and export, the closing stock ought to have been 2.85 lakh tonnes at the end of August.
However, the stock figures published are 1.85 lakh tonnes. In effect, a whopping one lakh tonnes has been “adjusted” without explanation. The discrepancy of one lakh tonnes is huge and has significant consequences for all stakeholders, it said.
Since the stock figure is only a derived one and import and export figures are fairly accurate, the inconsistency in stock figure is only a pointer to an anomaly in production or consumption data. In other words, either the production is being over-estimated or consumption is being under-estimated or a combination of both, said Rajiv Budhraja, Director General, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association.
Adjustment of rubber stock data through self correction at periodic intervals without baseline correction in production and consumption figures presents a distorted picture. Since the Government policy is determined by import (as well as the stocks in the country), such an anomaly will lead to flawed assumption and hence erroneous outcomes, said Mohinder Gupta, President, All India Rubber Industries Association.
– The Hindu
