Rubber board urges stabilization of NR prices

KOTTAYAM, India—The India Rubber Board "will continue its efforts to stabilize natural rubber prices" in cooperation with allied sectors, chairman Sawar Dhanania said in a presidential address.

In a Jan. 24 release from the 183rd meeting of the Rubber Board, Dhanania said that central government had banned imports of scrap rubber to support farmers who are facing falling rubber prices.

The Rubber Board has requested India regulators to raise the import duty on compounded rubber, the industry body leader said at the meeting in Kottayam.

Dhanania also called for an investment in modern warehousing capacity so farmers can store more produce "until the domestic market improves."

The chairman also highlighted "value-addition" initiatives, including work to apply new processing and design technologies in the rubber wood industry.

Also at the meeting, Executive Director K.N. Raghavan, reported that India's NR production for April to November was provisionally estimated as 517,000 metric tons.

Growth was estimated at 14.9 percent compared to the same period of last year, Raghavan added, noting the board's contribution to raising production, such as by promoting rainguarding and controlling diseases.

NR consumption for April to November was provisionally estimated at 898,000 metric tons, representing a year-on-year growth of 8.6 percent.

Within that figure, the automotive tire sector registered 4.4-percent growth, while the general rubber goods sector grew 20.2 percent.

The automotive tire manufacturing sector accounted for 71 percent of the total NR consumed in the country from April to November.

The revised projection of production and consumption of NR for 2022-23 is 830,000 metrict tons and 1,310,000 metric tons respectively, Raghavan said.

NR imports, he reported, increased to 378,481 metric tons from April to November compared to 343,604 metric tons during the corresponding period of last year.