Saturday, July 19, 2014

Govt to take steps to boost production


India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to a near-all-time high to $317.037 billion, as central bank accumulated dollars to prevent volatility in the forex market.

Government has taken measures to boost the production and export of plantation crops through the Plantation Commodity Boards which provide financial and technical assistance to the growers and the industry.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the schemes to promote export of plantation crops envisage providing assistance for participation in trade fairs, exhibitions, buyer-seller meets, brand promotion, public campaigns and export of value added products.

Natural rubber is not exported in large quantity as India's consumption of rubber is larger than domestic production.

Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani said `.10 crore have been earmarked for rubber procurement in a bid to help farmers who were reeling under crisis due to sharp fall in rubber prices.

Mani agreed with P C George, government Chief Whip’s demand to procure rubber by paying `.5 per kg more than the daily domestic market price of rubber. Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan said a meeting would be convened in consultation with Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to take a decision on the revised procurement price.

Imports of natural rubber surged due to the price difference in the domestic and international markets, and this trend is likely to continue for the next few months as the tapping of rubber is very low. The imports may match a record this year as rising car sales boost demand for tyres.

Rising natural rubber imports put further downward pressure on domestic rubber prices amidst weak demand. RSS4 grade rubber prices in 2011 was `.245 per kg is now at `.141 per kg. Weaker crude oil prices are also putting downward pressure on natural rubber as petroleum product synthetic rubber becomes more competitive.

The benchmark RSS4 grade rubber closed at `.141 a kg at Kottayam, while RSS3 grade closed at `.122.99 a kg at Bangkok and Malaysian SMR20 closed at `.102.12 a kg. On National Multi Commodity Exchange August 2014 closed at `.141.11 a kg, September at `.139.14, October at `.138.38, November at `.139.80, December at `.140.25 and January 2015 closed at `.141.35 a kg. On Tokyo Commodity Exchange, July 2014 futures series closed at ¥189.8 a kg, August at ¥192.9, September at ¥195.9, October at ¥198.2, November at ¥200.6 and the contract for delivery in December 2014 closed at ¥202.2 a kg.

For latest rate of Currency Exchange: www.rubber4u.com/Statistic/Notices
Read lot more in Rubber4U – 1st August 2014 issue

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