Rubber industries demand waiver of anti-dumping duty .

Rubber industries have called for the removal of anti-dumping duty on imported raw materials such as carbon black and rubber chemicals as it makes “Indian rubber products more expensive in comparison to imported finished products.”

A memorandum submitted by the All-India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) to the Finance Ministry ahead of the Budget said that the levy of anti-dumping duty on high styrene butadience rubber had made Indian footware expensive leading to a surge in import of products from Nepal, Sri Lanka and China. At the same time, said the memorandum, rubber products are imported at the normal rate of duty without the anti-dumping provision.

With over 15,000 rubber products in the market, it is difficult to prove the charges of dumping and most of the manufacturers are small and do not have the resources to initiate anti-dumping proceedings.

Uncompetitive

Inadequate supply of raw materials and high cost of natural rubber had rendered the small and tiny rubber products units in India uncompetitive when compared to their counterparts in other Asian countries.

Natural rubber consumption in the country is split almost equally between manufacturers of tyres and other products. However, the non-tyre segment is fast yielding place to the rubber segment.

Dwindling share

According to figures available with the Rubber Board, the share of non-tyre segment in natural rubber consumption has come down from 44 per cent in 2006-07 to 37 per cent (estimated) during 2011-12.

The president of AIRIA Vinod Simon was quoted in the memorandum as saying that the Rubber Board had taken note of the dwindling share of non-tyre segment in natural rubber consumption in the country.

The rubber industry's other major complaint is that even raw materials which are not indigenously produced are subjected to high rate of Customs Duty. The industries have asked for waiver of Customs Duty on raw materials not manufactured in India. These items include butyl rubber, SBR grade 1500/1700 and high-tech synthetic rubbers, EPDM and polyester tyre cord.

Unavailability of natural rubber is a major concern that finds representation in the rubber industry's memorandum. The industry has sought the import of a lakh tonnes of natural rubber to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the country even as the duty on latex continues to be 70 per cent, which the memorandum described as ‘staggering.'

Source : thehindu.com