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The Rubber Board has urged tyre manufacturing companies to continuously procure natural rubber from the domestic market in the wake of prices dropping over the past few weeks.
In a meeting with the major consumers’ including tyre company representatives, Executive Director of the Board M Vasanthagesan said mutual support of all stakeholders in the value chain is crucial for the existence of a sustainable market in the long term as this is an ecosystem where all interests of all stakeholders are to be balanced.
He recalled the acute shortage of material during the early months of 2024 owing to the low price during the last peak production period due to higher imports in the previous year leading to decreased prices. This resulted in the consequential reluctance of the growing community to engage in continuous tapping and the shift in focus from the production of sheet grades to latex. He said any further fall in price would bring a similar situation in the coming year and the consequences could be irreversible.
Efforts to expand plantations
He asked the companies to regularly engage in the market irrespective of the largescale import,s or the situation in the OEM market which is often volatile. Volatility of prices to this extent is not good for perennial crops such as rubber and the support of the industry in overcoming volatility.
The Executive Director also pointed out the need to bring untapped plantations to tapping was to ensure the rubber availability in a consistent manner. Also earnest efforts would be made to expand plantation in more areas to ensure availability. The problem of availability of tappers is also being seriously viewed.
Thrust for production of quality sheets was emphasized for the betterment of the growing community as well as the industry. The Board has been continuously promoting quality sheet rubber production.
The large-scale import of compounded rubber is a matter of concern and the Board is monitoring the market situation closely and gives suitable policy inputs to the Government for stabilising the natural rubber market, he added.
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