Natural rubber production increased by five per cent during the first half of current fiscal, while consumption failed to keep pace rising by only 1,000 tonnes, official sources said yesterday. In terms of the target set for production and consumption, rubber output exceeded the target of 2.6 lakh tonnes by over one per cent, while consumption slid by 1.5 per cent Press against the expected 2.92 lakh tonnes, the sources said.
Natural rubber production during April-September this year has been estimated around 2.64 lakh tonnes compared with over 2.50 lakh tonnes during the same period last year, they said.
Consumption is being estimated at 2.86 lakh tonnes during the period against 2.85 lakh tonnes during the period last year.
The reason attributed for the meagre consumption is a slump on consumption by the tyre industry, which faces recession all over the world, the sources said.
Rubber offtake by the tyre industry, which consumes 47 per cent of the commodity produced in the country, was 1.42 lakh tonnes against an estimated consumption of 1.48 lakh tonnes.
However, consumption by the non-tyre industry had exceeded the offtake target of 1.44 lakh tonnes during the period, the sources said.
Rubber production was the highest during September, the start of the peak production season, with the output being estimated around 55,000 tonnes, they said.
The first half saw good production during April-May totalling over 85,000 tonnes.
This has been attributed to the delay in the south-west monsoon, while total production during June-July has been put at 75,000 tonnes against the estimated 74,000 tonnes, the sources said.
In contrast, consumption throughout the period had remained below the target.
Industry sources said there was an excess 4,000 tonnes production, while consumption had also slid by a similar margin against the set target.
The production-consumption pattern clearly illustrates that the prices of rubber are low only in keeping with the global trend, they said.
Rubber prices have declined since the beginning of this year on increased production and decline in consumption. In the last fiscal, Indias rubber production was 5.47 lakh tonnes, while consumption was 5.69 lakh tonnes.
