The Hindu Business Line : ‘Health woes unlikely to affect rubber output’

Kottayam, Aug. 10 The Rubber Board Chairman, Mr Sajan Peter, has discounted fears regarding the possibility of non-availability of natural rubber in the coming months in the backdrop of the contagious fever which affected Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts.

Though majority of the tappers in these districts were affected by fever, the shortage in production was less than 50,000 tonnes compared with the same period last year. Though the study conducted by the Board has found that more than 90 per cent of tappers were affected, it would not be realistic to conclude that there would be an equal shortage in production.

The estimated production of 2007-08 is 8.74 lakh tonnes as against 8.53 lakh tonnes last year. This year consumption also has been projected as 8.53 lakh tonnes.

Imports

Owing to the large scale imports during the last year, the stock of natural rubber in the country at the beginning of the financial year was 1.6 lakh tonnes. Therefore, the decline in production in the recent months did not actually affect the availability of rubber. At the end of July 2007, there was a stock of 1 lakh tonnes of rubber in the country, while at the end of July 2006, it was only 60,000 tonnes.

The Chairman has further stated that there is no room for any apprehension among the manufacturers about the availability of natural rubber as the coming months are the peak production period for rubber. He advised the rubber growers to be vigilant about the manipulations of vested interests who might create artificial price rise in the market based on misinformation which would only cause price crashes later on.

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