Kochi: The firming up of price of the natural rubber in global market has been coincided with the increase in the output of the commodity in the country. The provisional data released by the Rubber Board has revealed that natural rubber output in the country has moved up 12.1 per cent to 493,000 tonne in Apr-Dec compared with 444,000 in the same period a year ago. The output has also shown an uptrend due to the peak season of rubber production in the country.
The price of natural rubber in global markets has escalated following severe floods in Thailand, the largest producer of the commodity in the world. The domestic price also climbed up tagging the global trend in the past 2 months. The benchmark RSS4 grade in Kottayam closed at Rs 16 per kg on Tuesday, up Rs 30 from Rs 130 prevailed in November last year. The natural rubber demand in Apr-Dec moved up 5.4 per cent 776,930 tonne to 737,040 tonne in the same period last year.
The export of the commodity from the country also moved up in the last two months the global price is ruling above the domestic price. The benchmark RSS4 grade is ruling at Rs 200 per kg in Bangkok market on Tuesday. Rubber import to the country stayed at 360,310 tonne compared with 358,975 in the same period in the previous year. According to Rubber Board, the carryover stock in the country as on December 31, 2016 is 272,000 tonne.
