Natural rubber production has declined by 3% to 58,000 tonnes in May 2012, compared to 59,700 tonnes in the same month last year.
The consumption of the commodity rose by 4% to 83,000 tonnes in May this year as against 80,120 tonnes in May 2011, Rubber Board data said.
Imports of natural rubber rose by 13% to 18,419 tonnes last month from 16,293 tonnes in the year-ago period, whereas exports fell by 63% to 1,131 tonnes against 3,031 tonnes in the same period last year, the data said.
The stock of natural rubber in the country at the end of May 2012 stood at 2.22 lakh tonnes, it said.
In 2012-13 fiscal, India's natural rubber production declined by 5% to 1.10 lakh tonnes in the April-May period from 1.16 lakh tonnes in the same period of the 2011-12 fiscal.
Natural rubber consumption grew marginally by 1% at 1.63 lakh tonnes in the April-May period of 2012-13 against 1.61 lakh tonnes in the 2011-12 financial year.
Imports also rose to 35,928 tonnes in April-May of this fiscal from 22,811 tonnes in the year-ago period, but exports declined to 1,918 tonnes from 5,245 tonnes in the same period, the Rubber Board data said.