India may become second largest rubber consumer

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Kochi, Aug 18 : India is likely to become the second largest consumer of rubber in the world due to an increased appetite for the commodity, while the rest of the world slows down on consuming rubber, experts speaking at the 'Rubber Summit' said.

India is classified as a consuming country by the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) and in the race to dethrone US for the second position from the current fourth ranking.

According to the statistics with IRSG, India consumed 1,141,000 tonne rubber in 2007 with a share of 5% of the total global consumption. The forecast of IRSG says that Indian demand for rubber shall exceed 2188, 000 tonne by 2020 and the share should increase to 7% of the total global demand.

Hidde P Smit, secretary general of IRSG, says that India is the only nation that is likely to consume rubber at a faster rate. "US consumption is expected to dip in the short and long run, while Japan and Germany remain flat. The largest consumer China will slow down in the coming days but will still remain the largest consumer," he said. "Per capita consumption of rubber in India still lags far below the global standards, so the potential for growth is more," Sang Udomjarumani of the International Rubber Consortium, Thailand said. Sang feels that Indian consumption is a major factor in the firmness of the rubber market. However, he expressed concerns on the unbridled increase in rubber farming area in India. "If the Indian demand fails to keep the pace, surplus from Indian market could ease the rubber prices, "he added.