Imports of natural rubber increased by 9% and reached an all time high of 205,050 tonnes in 2011-12. The rise in imports was mainly due to the severe shortage of high quality sheet rubber (RSS-4) in the domestic market. The demand for good quality rubber is further expected to go up, leading to greater imports in the coming times.
India needs 550,000 tonnes of RSS-4 grade sheet rubber annually. The high quality rubber is essentially used for the production of radial tyres. However the domestic production, which is between 350,000 and 400,000 tonnes, is much less than the demand, compelling producers to import.
Radialisation which is to the tune of 100% in the passenger car segment, has only reached 17% in the case of truck or bus radials. The main reason behind this is the poor supply of RSS-4 grade in the domestic market.
Greater radialistion in expected in the coming times in the bus and truck segment. Also the non-tyre sector has been shifting to higher grades of rubber to ensure quality. Given this the demand for high quality rubber is increasing by 8% per annum on an average but domestic supply is far behind. Therefore, it is expected that the imports of natural rubber will only see a rise in the coming months.
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