India’s natural rubber (NR) imports for the financial year 2016-17 dropped by 7%, according to data recently released by Rubber Board, India. The rubber industry body said the decline in natural rubber imports was due to the increased domestic production as the country’s natural rubber output rose by 22% during the same fiscal year.
Commenting on the latest release of numbers by Rubber Board, Satish Sharma, Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) Chairman, said: “With improving availability of NR in domestic markets, there is a perceptible drop in NR import.”
“That lends credence to the industry’s position that NR imports are taking place to meet the domestic deficiency or in view of non-availability of certain grades of rubber on quality parameters,” Satish added.
Certain NR growing interests have been alleging that the domestic NR production in India has been declining in view of imports contracted by the industry while industry has been maintaining that this was the other way round, he said, in a release by ATMA.
Responding to the claim that NR imports are down in view of domestic prices ruling lower than international prices, ATMA said that even when the domestic NR prices were ruling 20% higher than international prices, domestic production was getting fully consumed by the industry with hardly any exports. That reaffirms the contention of NR consuming interests that there is acute deficit of NR in the country.
“Tyre industry is all for a vibrant domestic NR sector and has shown its commitment by aligning with Rubber Board in various measures aimed at increasing productivity and quality of domestic rubber. It is time, different stakeholders chart out a strategy so that industry gets access to quality rubber at competitive prices while NR growers get adequately compensated,” Satish pointed out.