Natural rubber imports to rise on high domestic prices

Natural rubber (NR) imports are likely to rise this financial year due to a widening gap between the local and global prices. Currently, India holds a price tag of Rs 215a kg for RSS-4 grade, while the same grade in Bangkok was on Monday traded at Rs 206 a kg.

It was just the reverse that had been happening until August, when the global prices were higher than domestic rubber prices. This had curtailed the imports in the April-August period this financial year, even as the import duty had been reduced to 7.5 per cent from 20 per cent earlier.

During this period, 79,661 tonnes were imported as against 85,058 tonnes in the same period of the last financial year. This was mainly due to higher prices in the global markets then and the international price was up by Rs 12-14 a kg on an average than the local prices. Even at lower duty, imports were not viable for the rubber-based industries.

Though the availability of NR is rather low in India, when compared to the demand, duty-bound import is not a viable option for the industry. Hence, rubber industries’ associations, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association and the All India Rubber Industries Association demanded duty-free import of 200,000 tonnes for the current financial year.

Rubber Board Chairman Sheela Thomas said the import and export of NR in April-August were 79,661 tonnes and 12,413 tonnes, respectively. She added that in the recent months, the global economic developments, trends in rubber and other related sectors, currency fluctuations, etc, had exerted downward pressure on the prices.