Natural rubber import is likely to be more attractive for the industry as leading producing countries weigh more concessions on export.

To add to the woes of the growers, the military junta of Thailand, world's largest exporter of rubber, has recently decided to release 200,000 tones of stock pile.

Adding much pressure on the supply side this will definitely cause drop in the international prices, leading to more imports to countries like India, experts said.

Today in India, price of bench mark grade RSS-4 quoted Rs 127/Kg, while Bangkok price in rupee terms is Rs 107 only.

In an effort to boost export, Vietnam Ministry of

Finance is considering cutting the rubber export tax to zero from the current rate of one%."In last November, Vietnam decreased the export tax for centrifugal rubber and synthetic rubber from three% to one%. Now they mulls rducing the tax to zero level. The price advantage will definitely favour more import to India this year," said Rajiv Budhraja, director general of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).

He told Business Standard that it is not the price alone that would determine the quantum of imports, but local availability and quality are major issues. But in this year price is a major attractive factor and overseas availability is also higher. So these factors favour more imports to India, he said.

Experts feel that total import would definitely cross 400,000 tones in this financial year. During 2013-14 India had imported 325,190 tones as against 217,364 tones in 2012-13. It is interesting to note that import will be roughly 50% of India's total production if it crosses 400,000 tones.

During the first five months of this year, Vietnam exported 239,000 tones of rubber, worth US$472 million. Compared to the same period of last year, export volume has shrunk 20.5%, while revenue was

39.3% lower. The total revenue for 2014 is expected to be 25% to 30% lower than in 2013.In addition, the volume of rubber that Vietnam has been exporting to its main export partners, China, Malaysia and India, has been decreasing tremendously every year. For example, China imported 37.7% less than last year, which resulted in a 53.4%

reduction in revenue. This is the reason for that country to opt for zero export cess.According to the latest data of the Rubber Board, in April -July period 133,789 tones of NR were brought into the country. This is for the first time that rubber import crosses 100,000 tones in just four months time. The price advantage in the global market, coupled with fresh initiatives of major producing countries to export their produce, will make the tyre companies more advantageous.

Source:- business-standard.com