The consumption of natural rubber declined by 2.20% and stood at 82,000 tonnes in January 2016 from 83,850 tonnes in the same month last year, as per data compiled by Rubber Board. The consumption also fell by 3% to 821,910 tonnes in the April-January period of this fiscal from 848,535 tonnes in the year-ago period.
The production fell by 3.4% in January to 56,000 tonnes compared to 58,000 tonnes in the same month last year. In the first 10 months of the current financial year 2015-16, natural rubber production fell by nearly 13% to 496,000 tonnes as against 568,000 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The imports rose by 21% to 35,174 tonnes in January 2016 compared to imports of 29,141 tonnes in January last year. Imports declined to 365,805 tonnes in the first 10 months of this fiscal from 380,175 tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.