Rubber farmers are pinning hopes on the monsoon to start full-fledged production, even as recent price improvement in the crop has brought cheers to the sector.

The prevailing dry weather conditions have drastically impacted natural rubber production, which stood at 5.63 lakh tonnes in FY16. A tight supply crunch in the domestic market, coupled with rise in international prices, has led to a price surge, which is now hovering at ₹138 per kg today from ₹90 in the last few months.

However, majority of the growers could not capitalise on the price improvement, as arrivals in the domestic market during February-March were low due to non-availability.

Thus, low availability due to drought conditions, coupled with reduced imports in April, has forced consuming industries to purchase rubber from the domestic market.

Source: Businessline.com