India Permits 40,000 Tonnes Rubber Imports At Concessional Duty.

The Indian government has permitted imports of 40,000 tonnes of natural rubber at a concessional duty of 7.5 per cent for the current fiscal. This is in line with the one allowed last fiscal, reports said.

Since April 1 this year, the Customs duty on natural rubber has been fixed at 20 per cent or Rs.20 a kg, whichever is lower.

The move follows the demand from the user industry, particularly tyre manufacturers, to allow import of two lakh tonnes duty-free. Growers, however, are totally opposed to imports, as it may suppress domestic prices. The decision to allow import of only 40,000 tonnes that too at 7.5 per cent against a demand to permit two lakh tonnes is disappointing, said an industry source.

Last fiscal, the import duty regime was put in place in December for a similar quantity of 40,000 tonnes. This year, though, imports are allowed from this month itself.

The import will meet consumers' need for just 15 days, going by the consumption of 80,500 tonnes in June.

On Saturday, RSS-4 (ribbed smoked sheet) rubber was quoted at Rs.216 a kg. During the weekend, in the global market RSS-3, the equivalent to India's RSS-4, closed at Rs.210 a kg in Bangkok.

In the first quarter this fiscal, rubber imports doubled to 38,233 tonnes from the 19,118 tonnes during the same period a year ago. Production in the first quarter was 1, 75,700 tonnes, up by five per cent over the same period last year. In comparison, consumption was 2.44 lakh tonnes, up nearly four per cent year-on-year.

Source : nasdaq.com