Indian rubber farmers are disgruntled as India reels from a severe crisis which sees a steep fall in rubber price.
The import of natural rubber (NR) has recorded an all-time high, crossing four lakh tonne in the fiscal year 2014-15.
The rubber production witnessed a significant drop in the same period, plunging below seven lakh tonne, the lowest in a decade. Though exact figures are yet be released by the Rubber Board, the consumption is expected to touch 10 lakh tonne, given the statistics up to February, which is 9,28,865 tonne.
The consumption in March is likely to be more than 80,000 tonne. Despite the hue and cry raised by rubber farmers against the continued import of NR, it recorded around 15 pc increase in 2014-15, when compared to previous year.
While the import figures for 2012-13 and 2013-14 were 2.62 lakh tonnes and 3.60 lakh tonnes respectively, it touched 4.16 lakh tonne in 2014-15 fiscal, the provisional estimate shows.
Although, there is strong pressure to enhance the import duty, rubber continued to be imported as the price was quite attractive. The domestic production of natural rubber stood somewhere around 6.6 lakh tonne, against the 7.74 lakh tonne in 2013-14 and 9.13 lakh tonne in 2012-13.
This will be the lowest-ever figure after rubber production crossed seven lakh tonne in the beginning of the first decade of the century. With consumption showing considerable increase, room is now open for further import of rubber. The divide between consumption and production stood at 3.08 lakh tonne in February 2015.