India rubber production up 66% in June

ERJ staff report (TP)

Kochi, India – India’s domestic natural rubber production increased 65.8 percent in June, when compared with the same month last year.

But figures from the Rubber Board (RB) also showed that only 60 tonnes of rubber were exported in June. The cumulative figure for Q1 2014 was 119 tonnes, compared to 1,888 tonnes for Q1 2013 – a fall of 94 per cent.

Production this month rose to 63,000 tonnes, as against 38,000 tonnes in June 2013.

RB said production in Q1 2014 increased 11.3 percent to 167,000 tonnes from 150,000 tonnes in Q1 2013. Higher production in June was primarily due to a decrease in monsoon showers, which helped growers to continue with the tapping of trees.

Rubber production did drop slightly in April and May this year, compared with the same period last year. Production fell 3.8 percent in April and 10.2 percent in May, as against the respective months in 2013.

The consumption of natural rubber increased 5 percent this June, while cumulative consumption rose 2 percent during the April-June period.

The sharp increase in imports continued in June – 32,550 tonnes were imported compared to 23,001 tonnes in June 2013 – an increase of 42 percent.

There was an increase of 65 percent in overall import during April-June. RB data revealed 96,392 tonnes were brought in during the period as against 58,345 tonnes in the same period of last financial year.

In April 38 tonnes were exported, while in May this was 21 tonnes. RB estimates indicate at the end of this June the total rubber stock in India is 207,000 tones – compared to 188,000 tonnes in June 2013.