Amid disparity over the country’s stock of natural rubber (NR), the Rubber Board on Wednesday said the country had an all-time high stock of rubber. The board’s latest data show the total stock was 279,477 tonnes as on September 30. This includes production, consumption and the leftover stock. This is 46,381 tonnes higher than the stock in the same month last year.
Rajiv Budhraja, director general, Atma, said despite such a huge stock claimed by the Rubber Board, the market was facing a serious supply crunch for the last few months. It was not the actual saleable stock as there was a serious statistical error in calculating the stock which is being carried over for the last few years. Actually the local market was having a maximum stock of 180,000 tonnes, which was the actual saleable stock.
Vinod T Simon, president, Airia said the stock position should be calculated based only on the available saleable stock. But, board is taking into account even the already sold stock which is the inventory of various manufacturing companies. Whatever left as inventory is not saleable stock as it might be utilised later. Unfortunately the Board includes this as stock, which is serious error.
According to him these misleading figures influence the government’s policy decisions such as reduction in import duty, duty-free imports, etc. Total 120,000 tonnes are lying with the manufacturers as inventory. So, the actual stock comes to be 160,000 tonnes, he added.
Budhraja said the Rubber Board should also change the definition of stock. Whatever quantity is with the manufacturers, processing centres, etc should not be treated as stock.
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N Radhakrishnan, former president, Cochin Rubber Merchants Association (CRMA) said, “If there is such a huge stock in the market as claimed by the Board, the prices should have nosedived. The local market is facing a serious supply crunch and traders are not in a position to procure enough rubber according to the requirement of the industry. There is no selling pressure even in the peak production season. If there was huge stock, the market would have been facing strong selling pressure. But that is not there. This questions Board’s figures”.
According to him, the stock of rubber purchasable by the industry should be 175,000-180,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, the Rubber Board has appointed a committee to study the various issues in calculating stock, after strong protests by the consuming industries. The committee is expected to submit its report to the Board chairman by this month-end. The industry expects a sea change in calculating the stock, once the report is approved.
The Board also clarified that the stock mentioned might not be the actual available stock for purchase, thereby admitting that there are some serious lapses in accounting the stock.
PRODUCTION UP
During the April-September period of the current financial year, production rose 4.3 per cent. According to the Board’s data, the total production during the period increased to 391,400 tonnes as against 375,250 tonnes in the same period last year. Consumption of NR increased to 476,215 tonnes as against 469,050 tonnes, registering a growth of 1.5 per cent. The total stock in the country increased to 279,477 tonnes by the end of September, as against 233,096 tonnes in the same month last year.
EXPORTS RISE
Exports of NR rose 360 per cent increase during April-September. According to the provisional data of the Rubber Board, exports increased to 16,503 tonnes as against 4,558 tonnes in the same period of the last financial year. Imports declined 27 per cent to 88,760 tonnes as against 118,535 tonnes in the same period last year.