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Rubber prices soar to record Rs 120 per kg |
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Indian natural rubber prices have touched a historic high of Rs 120 for a kilo of RSS4 (ribbed, smoked, sheet). Prices of the commodity is normally higher than the average during short-production months of May and June. A short fall of around 30,000 tonnes, is expected this year.
Rubber Board, Chairman, Sajen Peter said that although the commodity was traded at an all-time high on Thursday in the country, the domestic market was yet to reflect international prices. For instance, he said, rubber prices were Rs 127 and Rs 128 (for RSS3) in world's key rubber hubs like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur respectively.
"Natural rubber is truly a global commodity. I don't understand why there should be this huge price disparity. Rs 1.50 a kilo gets cut towards cess on production, another Rs 3 a kilo goes as international market lead. But again, our prices would have been still higher," Peter said.
The current global demand-supply situation of rubber is very tight while a similar scenario is expected in Indian market as well. "A demand-supply mismatch is expected in domestic market. To increase production, hundreds of hectares of land in the country are currently being brought under rubber cultivation. But most of the new plantations are one to three-year-old while it has a gestation period of seven years, “said a market expert.
Rubber Board has identified Karnataka as a very high potential area for rubber cultivation. Kerala accounts for over 70% of the country's total rubber production of 8,27,000 tonnes, but not much expansion is possible in state due to non availability of additional land. Parts of Orissa, Maharashtra and Tripura are also growing rubber. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam are also in the process of increasing the quantity of production and productivity. Burma, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, Nigeria and Brazil are getting into rubber production.
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