Demand for rubber to get a boost in short-term: ANRPC

KOCHI: The demand for natural rubber from India, European Union, the US, and

Japan

is anticipated to get a boost in the short-term in view of the pent-up momentum resulting from the further lifting of Covid-19-related restrictions, revival of transportation and other economic activities, says the latest report from the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (

ANRPC

).


“It is striking to note that the world consumption of NR had posted abnormal growths in the years immediately following the historic catastrophes in the form of World Wars, Spanish Flu, and Great Depression. World consumption of NR posted 33% increase in 1919 (Immediately following World War I), 45% jump in 1922 (Following the Spanish Flu), 19% jump in 1933 (Following the Great Depression), and a whopping 121% increase in 1946 (Immediately after World War II),” the report noted.

“Although such abnormal growth is not expected in the present scenario, a moderate short-term boost can be expected as life returns to normalcy after nearly two years of lockdowns and restrictions. Following a 6.9% fall in 2019, the world demand for NR is expected to increase by 8.3% to 14.0 million tonnes in 2021. With the world supply during the year is expected at 13.8 million tonnes, the year 2021 is likely to witness a global shortage of around 200,000 tonnes. Although the shortage is not substantial relative to the global demand, this can reflect in the physical markets in the last two months of the year,” the report added.

NR economy over the past five years (From 2016 onwards) has been under the grip of the excess production capacity caused by abnormal expansion of the area occupied by mature trees, ANRPC report highlighted. “Although the global mature area is expected to expand by nearly 250,000 hectares in 2022, the resultant increase in production is likely to be absorbed by a robust global demand,” it said.

According to ANRPC, India had produced 75,000 tonnes of rubber during September 2021 and according to its preliminary estimates, the production will go down to 55,000 tonnes in October 2021, but will grow to 1 lakh tonnes in November and 1.05 lakh tonnes in December 2021.

Meanwhile, in India, already rubber prices are on the higher side. The price of RSS-4 grade rubber stood at Rs 183 per kg at

Kottayam

on Thursday, the leading natural rubber market in the country.
Select The Times of India as your preferred source on Google Search