The past few months have seen a steady slump in rubber prices—making the commodity one of the worst performers of the year, according to Commodity Online.
Tokyo rubber futures, for example have sunk 27% to a six-year low at to ¥167.80 a kilogram. In comparison, copper is down 15% in the last three months and West Texas Intermediate crude oil has slumped 23%.
At the end of first quarter, global stocks of rubber were over 3 million tons, according to data from the International Rubber Study Group. This was enough to supply the market for more than three months.
In India Natural rubber production surged 7.8% in August to 55,000 tonnes. Rubber imports also fell 32% to 33,292 tonnes. The figures were compared to data from the same time last year, according to Rubber Board data.
While prices are going down, production and consumption are going up. Natural rubber consumption grew to 87,500 tonnes this month compared to last year’s 86,300 tonnes .
Production of natural rubber for the month of August 2015 also increased by 7.8% to 55,000 tonnes compared to 51,000 tonnes last year, said the Rubber Board. Although, total imports declined to 33,292 tonnes last month from 49,108 tonnes in August 2014.