Natural rubber consumption fell 8 per cent to 74,000 tonnes in September 2011, while production rose 3 per cent to 80,200 tonnes.

The consumption stood at 80,500 tonnes in September 2010, whereas output stood at 77,500 tonnes in the same period, according to data released by the Rubber Board.

On a month-on-month basis, rubber consumption declined by about 4 per cent to 74,000 tonnes last month against 77,000 tonnes in the previous month.

Natural rubber imports fell 73 per cent to 9,099 tonnes last month from 33,477 tonnes in the year-ago period. Overseas shipments jumped more than 17-fold to 3,313 tonnes in September this year from 194 tonnes in the same period of the previous year.

Rubber production in the first half of the current fiscal rose 4.3 per cent to 3,91,400 tonnes from 3,75,250 tonnes in the same period of the previous fiscal.

Consumption rose about 2 per cent to 4,76,215 tonnes in April-September 2011-12 fiscal from 4,69,050 tonnes in the year-ago period.

Imports fell to 88,760 tonnes from 1,18,535 tonnes, while exports jumped to 16,503 tonnes from 4,558 tonnes. The closing stock of rubber in 2011-12 is projected at 2,79,477 tonnes.

According to the Rubber Board, domestic production in 2011-12 is estimated at 9,02,000 tonnes, while consumption has been projected at 9,77,000 tonnes.

The board expects imports of natural rubber to total 1.2 lakh tonnes and exports of 50,000 tonnes in 2011-12.

Related Topics