The production of natural rubber stood at 51,000 tonnes in September 2015, a decline of 15% compared to 60,000 tonnes of production which stood in September 2014, as per data compiled by Rubber Board. In April-September of the current fiscal, natural rubber production fell 15.4% to 2.81 lakh tonnes, from 3.32 lakh tonnes a year earlier.
The consumption of natural rubber too dropped to 84,500 tonnes in the said month, from 86,280 tonnes in the year-ago period. Consumption declined 2% to 501,535 tonnes in the first 6 months of current fiscal, from 511,565 tonnes in the year-ago period.
The imports of rubber slumped to 32,933 tonnes last month, a drop of 24% compared to 43,674 tonnes in September 2014. In the first 6 months of FY16, imports too fell to 213,184 tonnes from 236,640 tonnes. However, exports grew to 208 tonnes in April-September, from 192 tonnes in the same period a year ago.