THE ASSOCIATION of Planters of Kerala (APK) cautions that the natural rubber (NR) growing sector in the Indian state of Kerala is likely to slip into crisis due to frequent price drops and production cost hikes.
Y Raghavan, Chairman of APK said that rubber prices have fallen by 47% in the past 24 months and labour cost has climbed up 61% over the same period, also urging the State and Central Governments to mitigate the situation with counter measures such as assistance to growers. The continuous imports by tyre manufacturers due to shortage of local NR supply also weigh down on prices.
The Union Finance Ministry is proposing for an increase in import duty from Rs 20 to Rs 34.20 per kg.
The situation could prompt small growers to shift rubber to other nore profitable crops, warns APK.
Raghavan claims that supply shortage is hyped up by some tyre manufacturers who were justifying their cartel practices to manipulate price levels, adding that the Rubber Board’s data indicates a surplus stock of more than two lakh tonnes of NR in the country.
Meanwhile. the association raises hopes that the government ensures that duty-free rubber imports correspond to the actual quantity of the raw material in the products exported.