Natural rubber production declined 15 per cent in September to 51,000 tonnes and so did the imports, which fell 24 per cent to 32,933 tonnes from a year ago.
Natural rubber consumption too dropped to 84,500 tonnes in the said month, from 86,280 tonnes in the year-ago period.
"Production of NR (natural rubber) for September 2015 decreased 15 per cent to 51,000 tonnes compared with 60,000 tonnes in September 2014," Rubber Board said in a statement.
Imports slumped to 32,933 tonnes last month, from 43,674 tonnes in September 2014.
In April-September of the current fiscal, natural rubber production fell 15.4 per cent to 2.81 lakh tonnes, from 3.32 lakh tonnes a year earlier.
Consumption declined 2 per cent to 5,01,535 tonnes in the first 6 months, from 5,11,565 tonnes in the year-ago period.
In the same period, imports too fell to 2,13,184 tonnes, from 2,36,640 tonnes.
However, exports grew to 208 tonnes in April-September, from 192 tonnes in the same period a year ago.
