"Increase in production is due to favourable climatic conditions, increase in tapping days and better price," a senior Rubber Board official said.
The consumption of natural rubber increased by 7.74 per cent to 71,000 tonnes in May against 65,895 tonnes in May 2007.
"Even though there is an increase in consumption during May 2008 compared to May 2007, there is decreasing trend in consumption during April and May 2008 compared to February and March 2008," he noted. The consumption stood at 74,000 tonnes during April 2008.
During the period under review, the export of natural rubber declined to 2,800 tonnes from 4,141 tonnes while import dipped to 7,500 tonnes from 7,978 tonnes in the same period.
"There is decrease in import and export due to marginal difference in domestic and international prices," he said. In its projection for the entire 2008-09 fiscal, the Rubber Board has pegged the natural rubber output at 8.75 lakh tonnes and consumption at 8.99 lakh tonnes in 2008-09.
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The exports and imports are estimated at 50,000 tonnes and 80,000 tonnes respectively for 2008-09 fiscal. In 2007-08 fiscal, the production of natural rubber declined by three per cent to 8.25 lakh tonnes from 8.52 lakh tons in the previous fiscal.
Consumption increased by 5 per cent to nearly 8.6 lakh tonnes in 2007-08 against 8.2 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. India exported 51,381 tonnes in 2007-08 against 56,545 tonnes in the previous fiscal. The imports stood at 87,219 tonnes against 89,699 tonnes in the review period.