Apollo chairman warns on NR prices

ERJ staff report (DS)

Kochi, Kerala, India -- Apollo Tyres' Chairman, Onkar S Kanwar's address to the shareholders at the company's 37th AGM in Kochi included a warning on NR prices: "When we began the year in April 2009, natural rubber prices were at Rs 70 a kg. When we closed the year in March 2010, it had doubled to Rs 145. Exactly four months later, this month the average price was Rs 180 per kg -- and rising. I am sure you are well able to comprehend the enormous pressure this has put on your Company in terms of financial management."

He continued, "To keep up with the times and your country's phenomenal growth rate of 9.5%, we need to increase our land under natural rubber cultivation, plant a fresh crop, and move on to modern ways of cultivation and tapping, enabling us to extract a higher yield per acre, while planning for the future. While your Company is investing in research to see how this can be addressed, plantation owners in Kerala need to work on this on a war footing. "

Kanwar continued with a warning to the employees at Apollo's Perambra plant, "I find it disheartening to find that your Company's oldest and most valuable facilities are not willing to move with the times. As a result, your Plant in Perambra has been closed for the past two months, every single day losing a production of 300 tonnes of tyres."

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Kanwar's speech from Apollo