Realising that producing rubber sheets of high quality will help curb import of natural rubber, which is likely to reach a new high of over 3 lakh tonne this year, the Rubber Board has launched a series of branded high quality sheets through a company promoted by it in Nilambur in Malappuram district in Kerala.
Thunchathu Ezhuthachan Rubbers, a company in which Rubber Board has controlling stake, has launched the brands Nilambur Gold and Nilambur Honey in the RSS 1X category. Nilambur Yellow in the RSS 2 and Nilambur Premium in the RSS 4 segments.
“The RSS 1 brands are premium grades that fetch higher prices in the market. They go for high end applications like medical catheters. The RSS 4 variety is used by the tyre industry. Our Nilambur Yellow is above RSS 2 grade,” said P Achuthan, managing director of the company.
The board’s efforts to promote the brand Indian National Rubber (INR) in the international market has met with success. Though rubber exports have been less this year because of lower international prices, almost 56 per cent of the total exports have been INR. The board is now keen to replicate the success in the domestic market.
“This is a pilot project and we would like to take it to other units in the future,” said Binoi K Kurian, deputy director, marketing of Rubber Board. The poor quality of the rubber sheets supplied by the domestic producers has been one reason for the manufacturing industry to go for imports. The acute shortage and sluggish international prices this year encouraged massive imports which the growers feel have pushed down the rubber prices to one of the lowest in the recent times.
Thunchathu Ezhuthachan Rubbers has 25 group processing centres working under NGOs. The Rubber Board provides the infrastructure and other facilities for producing rubber. The company traded 3100 tonne of rubber till February this year compared with 3200 tonne for 2012-13. The brands are expected to give it a competitive edge in the market.
“Nilambur, incidentally, is one of the first places where British tried planting rubber first in the late ninteenth century. The place is famous for its teak. Now after teak, Nilambur rubber will also become popular in the country,” said Dr J Thomas, rubber production commissioner.
Source: The Economic Times
Published: 24 Mar 2014