The Indian government has been considering increasing import duty on natural rubber (NR), according to Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
The country imports NR from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
Advise on the increase will be issued soon, as recommendation for the hike has already been put forward, he said.
Previously, a few industry experts noted that a hike by 70% of NR import duty could support falling local prices. Domestic rubber prices have slid close to 20% in the last five months on sluggish demand and a surge in cheap imports.