KOTTAYAM: In a glimmer of hope for rubber farmers hurt by the stagnant domestic rate, the price of natural rubber in international markets has started having a positive impact on the rate back home. As the international rubber price surpassed Rs 200 per kg, its domestic rate saw a significant rise in the past couple of days. On Tuesday, the rate was Rs 175 per kg in the Kottayam market.
Now, as pressure mounts on it to align domestic prices with the international market, the Rubber Board has initiated efforts to stimulate exports.
It will convene a meeting with exporters and firms under it at its head office at 11 am on Friday where it will assess the current market situation and explore export opportunities, particularly for different grades of sheet rubber.
TNIE had on March 9 reported about farmers’ demands that the board promote exports to strengthen the domestic market. The stagnant domestic price of rubber despite a rise in global rates has become a key topic of discussion ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Hence, any intervention by the board will be a crucial political development in the region. The farmers feel tyre companies are deliberately staying away from the market to manipulate prices across the country and see exporting rubbers as a way to compel these firms to source the commodity domestically, causing its price to rise. Representatives from the National Consortium of Rubber Producers’ Societies (NCRPS), a collective of rubber farmers, had met Rubber Board chairman Sawar Dhanania and executive director M Vasanthagesan on Monday to seek the board’s intervention.
“The chairman said an action plan will be readied in collaboration with companies under the board and rubber producers’ societies (RPSs) for the permanent export of rubber. The possibility of providing incentives to RPSs for rubber procurement is also under consideration. We are optimistic,” said NCRPS general secretary Babu Joseph.
Indian sheet rubber prices had softened recently, falling below the rates in Bangkok in January 2024.
As per Rubber Board statistics, ribbed smoked rubber grade 4 (RSS-4) cost Rs 217.43 per kg in Bangkok market, while its price here was Rs 175 per kg on Tuesday.
The international price hike was attributed to supply shortages from major rubber-producing countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Ivory Coast, which itself was caused by the winter in South-East Asian countries and unfavourable weather conditions in the November-December period.
First of its kind
For sheet rubber export, the Union government is offering an incentive of 1.4% of the FOB (Free on board) value under the ‘RoDTEP’ (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) Scheme. The Rubber Board is also promoting Indian rubber under the brand ‘Indian Natural Rubber’. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative by any rubber producing country to certify the quality of sheet rubber exported.
