Kochi, Aug. 17

The share of the tyre sector in natural rubber consumption is likely to increase further vis-À-vis the non-tyre sector in the coming years, Mr Rajiv Budhraja, Director General of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), has said.

In a presentation at India Rubber Summit and Dinner 2008 in Kochi, he pointed out that the consumption of natural rubber by the tyre sector has been consistently increasing and the sector currently consumes 57 per cent of natural rubber produced in India.

Delicate balance

However, Mr Budhraja expressed the industry’s concern over demand-supply imbalances and severe price volatility in case of natural rubber in India, which might spur the industry to depend more on external sources in the years to come.

He said that a delicate balance exists between domestic production and consumption, which is expected to put further pressure on natural rubber availability, while resulting in price fluctuations. Currently, domestic natural rubber prices are ruling higher than international prices and even at high prices, the availability of natural rubber is a major concern with rubber consuming industries.

In the current ranking, India is the fourth largest producer as well as fourth largest consumer of natural rubber in the world. There is a need for natural rubber producing and consuming interests to grow in tandem for long-term sustainability, he said.

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