Rubber Board has rolled back the natural rubber export target for this year by 64%, following the domestic shortage. On the contrary, the earlier import estimates have been perked up by 30%.
It is from the earlier estimate of 70,000 tonne that export plans have been trimmed to a modest target of 25,500 tonne. Board has also decided to keep buffer stocks at about 18,600 tonne. It is in its revised statistics that Rubber Board has chalked out its change of targets.
Correspondingly the production targets too have gone in for a hammering by 4%. This year, the Board had planned to achieve 8,74,000 tonne. This is now tightbelted to 8,19,000 tonne. It was the unprecedented 62,000 tonne production shortage in the April-September period that forced the change of estimates. Lull in tapping due to incessant rains and chickungunya fever among tappers in active plantations had precipitated the rubber output shortfall.
Earlier the projections were for 60,000 tonne imports. This has been jacked up to 80,000 tonne. One may recall that tyre manufacturers have been demanding ad hoc duty waiver on import to the tune of 50,000 tonne. Meanwhile, farmers are on toes over imports tripping their price bonanza. Compared to Rs 82 per kilo in November 2006, the price of benchmark RSS-4 grade has hit Rs 100 per kilo in November 2007.At the same time, market expectations are that plantations will log a production high in the October-December period. Stockists have even given advance bookings to premier RPS ( rubber producing societies) to supply during December and January.
Consumption of rubber in the April-September is up by 5%, compared to the same period in the last year and is projected to increase further in the coming months.