As India faces rubber shortage, the country is looking to import around 300,000 tonnes of natural rubber (NR) from Thailand to meet the domestic requirements.The country’s annual NR demand is more than 1 million tonnes, while the domestic production is stagnant at around 500,000 tonnes.
All India Rubber Industries President Mohinder Gupta said that the rubber authority of Thailand is offering about 300,000 tonnes of NR to India, and that negotiations have started between the domestic tyre, rubber industry and the Thai authority.
A high-level delegation of Thailand, including its rubber authority governor Titus Suksaard, is on a visit to India for negotiations. Suksaard said that they are now in talks with Indian industry players regarding the agreement. He also added that Thailand wants to at least double its exports of natural rubber to India to 400,000 tonnes.
Suksaard also invited Indian rubber and tyre industry to invest in the proposed rubber city which is being established in Thailand for rubber and tyre industry.
All India Tyre Manufacturers Association Director General Rajiv Budhraja said that in view of the rising gap in domestic production and demand of natural rubber, the Thailand delegation’s visit is significant and will yield good results for both countries.
The domestic rubber production declined 13% to 563,000 tonnes in 2015 to 2016, while imports during the period rose by 3% to 454,000 tonnes. In April last year, the government hiked the import duty on natural rubber to 25% or Rs 30 per kg, whichever is lower, to protect the interest of domestic growers and curb imports.
Source: The Hindu