KOCHI, AUG. 7:
Natural rubber production in the country has been badly affected by over two months of incessant rains in Kerala, the rubber heartland of the country, leaving farmers in distress.
Tapping has come to a standstill in vast swathes of plantations across Kerala as heavy rain prevents tapping. The production in June, according to the Rubber Board, was a meagre 38,000 tonnes. The July figures, expected next week, would even be lower.
SUPPLY SQUEEZE
Farmers said that the rain stood in the way of tapping even for a few days. Though generally rainguards are used for tapping during the monsoon period, this time it was not very effective as it rained continuously.
Supply shortage has increased the domestic price of rubber, while the international price continues to fall. The price on Tuesday was Rs 195.50 a kg (for RSS-4 grade), while the international price (Bangkok) was Rs 152.28.
Geroge Vally, President of Indian Rubber Dealers Federation, said that the current gap between Indian and international rubber prices was the widest in the recent times. He said that this would encourage rubber-goods manufacturers, mainly tyre makers, to import more from Malaysia or Thailand.
COST DETAILS
He noted that the landed cost of a kg of natural rubber from Kerala for a tyre manufacturer in northern India would be around Rs 210 (VAT and freight charges included). But if the same manufacturer imports, his landed cost would be around Rs 180 (import duty of Rs. 20 plus transportation expenses). “This huge savings of around Rs 30/kg will drive the tyre makers to import more in the next few weeks,” Vally told Business Line. Already, in April-July, around 90,000 tonnes had been imported, against the combined imports of 2,15,000 tonnes in the last two financial years.
Rubber production in the monsoon months has always been low in Kerala, which contributes nearly 90 per cent of the country’s natural rubber output.
The long rainy season is feared to have caused damage to a substantial number of trees too.
Source: The Hindu
