[05 Dec] India's Rubber Production up 7% in November

Setting the tone for the peak production season in India, rubber output increased by over seven per cent in November. The months of November-December-January are the peak rubber-producing season in peninsular India. However, the cumulative production for the first eight months of the current fiscal was negative, down 6.5 per cent over last year.

The increase in November contradicts the prognosis of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) that had predicted that production would fall, given the unseasonal nature of the rains that lashed the rubber producing regions of the country during the first week of the month. However, neither the monthly increase in production nor the smaller gap between production and consumption is expected to bring down rubber prices, Mr N. Radhakrishnan, former President of the Cochin Rubber Merchants Association said. With the global demand-supply mismatch likely to widen in the coming months, the prices are likely to rule firm.

Production for the first eight months was down to 5.38 lakh tonnes (5.76 lakh tonnes), while consumption increased 3.5 per cent to 6.15 lakh tonnes (5.94 lakh tonnes). Despite the mismatch, the stocks available in the country was up at 2.47 lakh tonnes (1.75 lakh tonnes).

The growth in rubber stocks was mainly due to a major reduction in exports as well as some concerted efforts at imports, sources in the Rubber Board said. Rubber exports fell sharply from 38,101 tonnes last year to 6,398 tonnes during April-November period. Meanwhile, imports more than doubled to 1.32 lakh tonnes over 60,002 tonnes last year. The changing paradigm in rubber export-import trade has helped to shore up the stocks.

The plus points for the rubber industry are the production growth in November and bridging the production shortfall from 9.4 per cent in October to 6.5 per cent last month. However, neither the plantation sector nor the rubber consuming industry is expecting any miracle and the country is expected to end with a production deficit over consumption, sources in the rubber sector said.

The Rubber Board has, meanwhile, pruned down the targeted production for this year from the 8.67 lakh tonnes to 8.40 lakh tonnes.

(Source: irco.biz)