Rubber plantations, located mainly in Kerala and open since April, are struggling to sell the commodity as COVID-19 and the nationwide lockdown have shrunk demand for natural rubber.

The United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI) has sought suspension of natural rubber (NR) imports for two years and a levy of safeguard duty on imports for three years when the suspension is revoked. This would give time for the local industry to recover.

The natural rubber sector provides livelihood to 1.3 million growers.

There has been a steep fall in prices in the domestic market for the last eight years and current prices are far below the cost of production. This is because of a surge in imports from southeast Asia.

“The present situation calls for an immediate moratorium of NR imports for a minimum period of two years.The opening stock of NR in the country is estimated at 3.4 lakh tonnes as on April 1 and it roughly translates to six months production,” said AL. RM. Nagappan, chairman, UPASI.

M.P. Cherian, chairman of the rubber sub-committee of UPASI, said the prices fell sharply during the lockdown.

While the production cost is about ₹170 per kg, the current domestic price for sheet rubber is approximately ₹120 a kg. The price of imported rubber, which attracts 25% duty, is at least ₹10 lower.Almost 75 % of the NR produced in the country goes to the tyre industry. Another 15% or so goes to industries that make products from latex, he said. Currently, the use of latex by industries that make products such as gloves is growing. But the volume supplied to it is low compared to the tyre sector.

According to industry sources, the price of NR was around ₹130 a kg a few months back. During lockdown, it fell sharply to ₹100 to ₹110 a kg and has recovered during the last two weeks.