Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Friday, 24 December 2010 00:16 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
NEW DELHI, (Reuters) - India has cut import duty on natural rubber to 7.5 percent for shipments up to 40,000 tonnes until March 31, but fresh imports deals are unlikely as rubber remains cheaper in the local market.
The duty will be reinstated at whichever is the lower of 20 percent or 20 rupees per kg after that date, a statement from the government on Thursday said.
The world’s fourth-largest producer of natural rubber has imported 143,468 tonnes in April-November, up just 3 percent on a year ago despite booming demand from the auto industry.
Tyre makers had been demanding the cut in natural rubber duty for over a year as they were struggling to pass on the rise in the raw material cost to end users.
But now despite trading at a record high rubber is cheaper in the local market and the import cut is unlikely to prompt them to sign fresh imports deals.
“I don’t think tyre companies will go for imports only because the government has cut the duty. There is no advantage in imports. Rubber is expensive in the international market,” George Valy, president of The Indian Rubber Dealers Federation, told Reuters.
On Thursday, the spot price of the most traded RSS-4 rubber (ribbed smoked sheet) was 20,750 rupees ($460) per 100 kgs in India as against 22,258 rupees ($493) in Bangkok.
India imports natural rubber mainly from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Indian tyre makers have stopped signing new natural rubber import deals as they are getting the raw material more than 15 percent cheaper in the local market.
Natural rubber prices rise to all time high
NEW DELHI: Natural rubber prices on Thursday touched a new record at Rs 207 per kg in Kerala, on concerns over the domestic supply coupled with rising global rates.
“There is a tight supply situation which has fuelled the price rise and also a spurt in the international prices of natural rubber, which is now ruling at Rs. 222 a kg,” Rubber Dealers Federation of India President, George Vally, told PTI.
Natural rubber prices are on a gaining spree for the past few months due to continuous rain in central Kerala and in Malabar region which adversely affected tapping, according to the federation.
Last month, rubber prices had zoomed to a high of Rs. 203 a kg but later it came down to Rs. 196 a kg. The rising global prices have also contributed in the increase in domestic rubber rates.
Rubber prices have gone up in the international market due to increase in demand from China, coupled with disruption in production in Thailand, the largest producer, due to floods.
According to the Rubber Board estimates, India is likely to produce 8.93 lakh tonnes of rubber in the current fiscal, while consumption would be around 9.78 lakh tonnes.
Recently, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, which accounts for 92 per cent of global output, has announced that the global natural rubber supply may drop by 3.8 per cent in the October-December period. - PTI
