Indian tire makers will approach the federal government seeking imports of at least 200,000 metric tons of duty-free rubber in 2010 to bridge a shortfall in raw material supply, a senior industry official said Thursday.
Rajiv Budhraja, director-general of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association, told Dow Jones Newswires the tire makers plan to ask the federal government to either scrap a 20% import duty on natural and synthetic rubber or direct state-run trading firms to import duty-free rubber into the domestic market.
ATMA members account for around 90% of the country's tire production.
Budhraja said though the local rubber production wouldn't be able to meet the demand in 2010, imports are unviable without the duty waiver as global prices are higher than local prices.
India's consumption of rubber, both natural and synthetic, was 880,365 tons during the April-December 2009 period, while production lagged at 690,293 tons, according to data released by state-run Rubber Board.
Most car and two-wheeler makers last week reported higher sales for December as demand for new cars and two-wheelers increased following a pickup in the economy.
Demand for both synthetic and natural rubber is likely to rise because of increased use in the tire sector related to rising sales of automobiles in India and China.
(Source: irco.biz)
No comments:
Post a Comment