The production of natural rubber in India fell by 13.5% in February to 50,000 tonnes compared to 57,800 tonnes during February 2014, increasing the country’s dependence on imports, as per data compiled by Rubber Board. The domestic consumption of rubber, on the other hand, increased to 82,500 tonnes in February from 79,375 tonnes a year ago.
Import of natural rubber increased to 28,806 tonnes in February from 20,300 tonnes in the same month last year. Exports also increased to 273 tonnes from 8 tonnes during the month under review.
The rubber production has declined by 14.6% to 6.2 lakh tonnes (LT) in the April-February period of this fiscal, compared to 7.26 LT in the corresponding period of the last financial year. The consumption of natural rubber however grew by 3.9% to 9.28 LT during April-February period of 2014-15 from 8.94 LT in the year-ago period.