Due to extremely favourable weather conditions and increased tapping intensity by the farmer, rubber production in the country has grown by 4.3 per cent to 94,400 tonnes (90,500 tonnes) in November 2011. Sources in the Rubber Board said that the average rainfall for November in the environs of Kottayam was 11 cm while the ideal precipitation for rubber estimated around 10 cm. Last year the rainfall was recorded at 20.6 cm, substantially higher than the ideal conditions.

IMPROVED YIELD

With prices climbing above the Rs 200 a kg mark, rubber farmers have increased their tapping intensity and yields have also improved. After the lull of October, demand for automobiles has begun to look up and rubber consumption has also improved, sources said. Rubber consumption increased by 5.1 per cent to 82,000 tonnes (78,010 tonnes). Going by the early indications, both production and consumption are expected to be higher this month as well.

PEAK SEASON

The coming months of December-January also happen to be the peak rubber production season in India with virtually no rainfall, cold nights and bright, sunny days. The soil humidity which was built up over the North East monsoon period is expected to aid rubber production.

Although rubber import was up just a tad for November, the overall imports for April-November period remained significantly lower. Exports have remained substantially higher than last year, both for November as well as for first eight months of the current fiscal. Production continued to be higher during April-November 2011 as against the corresponding period of last year, while consumption was significantly lower, reflecting the production numbers of the automobile industry.

According to the revised estimates, the stock of natural rubber at the end of November was down at 2,55,000 tonnes as against 2,80,728 tonnes of last year. However there is absolute shortage of rubber in the domestic market, Mr N Radhakrishnan, Advisor to Cochin Rubber Merchants Association said. Although Indian rubber prices are ruling higher than international prices, the farmers are holding on to their stocks.

Despite the marked disparity between the domestic and international prices, industry has not resorted to wholesale imports because of the huge erosion in the value of the Indian rupee against major currencies. This has made imports tricky. However Mr Radhakrishnan warned that the situation may not prevail for long and that the industries might resort to huge imports, which will be detrimental to farmers. Since imports would require a lead time of around one month, he said that rubber imports might soon commence in earnest unless the situation on the ground improve fast.

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