India likely to cut import duty on natural rubber .

NEW DELHI : Long pending demand from Indian rubber industry to the government on reducing import duty of natural rubber is expected to be absolved soon.

India’s Commerce Secretary, Rahul Khullar on Monday said that the government is considering the reiterated demand from rubber industry of reducing the import duty on nature rubber in the wake of higher demand for the commodity.

At present, Customs duty on natural rubber, the main raw material for tyres, is 20%, whereas on tyres, it is 10%.

The tyre industry has been demanding a reduction in import duty on natural rubber from the current 20% to 7.5% in view of higher domestic prices, which have been ruling in the range of Rs 170-180 a kg. In the global market, prices of natural rubber are ruling at Rs 153.73 per kg.

According to government and industry sources, India's imports of natural rubber will likely rise in the current fiscal year as local production is growing at a much slower pace than demand, mainly from tire makers.

Synthetic rubber production in June declined 1.6% from a year earlier to 252,000 tons, but was up 16% to 1.5 million tons in the first half of the year according to government and industry sources.

Source : commodityonline.com