Kottayam, April 8
Physical rubber prices finished almost unchanged on Thursday. The market lost its direction as buyers stayed back following the signs of weakness in domestic futures on NMCE. Sheet rubber closed steady at Rs 159 a kg amidst extremely dull volumes. According to sources, the market sustained at the quoted levels lacking sellers though the overall sentiments were slightly bearish.
Futures firm
The April futures for RSS 4 closed at Rs 157.66 (157.94), May at Rs 161.60 (161.22), June at Rs 163.83 (163.12) and July at Rs 162.30 (162.14) a kg on NMCE. RSS 3 slipped with April futures dropping to ¥356.3 (¥356.9) (Rs 170.29), May to ¥351 (¥352.8), June to ¥347.7 (¥350.1) and July to ¥339 (¥340) a kg during the day session on Tokyo Commodity Exchange. RSS 3 improved to Rs 168.35 (160.67) a kg on Singapore Commodity Exchange (SICOM) and to Rs 164.86 (162.04) a kg at Bangkok.
Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 159 (159); RSS-5: 157.50 (157.50); ungraded: 155.50 (155); ISNR 20: 157 (157) and latex 60 per cent: 101 (101).
Govt may free truck, bus radial imports for OEMs
Our Bureau
New Delhi, April 8
The Government may allow truck and bus makers to freely import radial tyres, which are currently on the ‘restricted list'.
In November 2008, all truck/bus radial tyre imports were put on the restricted list as a measure to protect the domestic tyre industry against alleged ‘dumping' from China. Goods on the ‘restricted list' are importable only against a licence from the Commerce Ministry. More recently, on February 19, an anti-dumping duty on imports from China and Thailand was imposed.
According to industry sources, a meeting was called by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Ministry on Thursday to discuss the anti-dumping duty on radial truck and bus tyres, besides restrictions on their imports. The inclusion of tyres in the Negative List under the proposed free trade agreement with Malaysia was also on the agenda.
Anti-dumping duty
At the meeting, user industries sought lifting of the anti-dumping duty and the removal of tyres from the restricted list. The Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association (ATMA), however, pushed for these to remain, while agreeing to some relaxations given to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), sources told Business Line.
They added that the officials at the meeting were “fairly responsive” on the freeing up of imports for OEMs, though no commitments were made. “The Ministry has asked all parties to give written submissions by Monday,” they said.
ATMA officials said, “The duties had been levied after thorough investigation by the Government. We see no reasons for another review. We're in favour of hassle-free licence agreements for OEMs, but not freeing imports for trade purposes.”
Tyre Shortage
A shortage of tyres in the commercial vehicle industry since January has led to a drop in production by 10-20 per cent for Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors. To cover up the shortfall OEMs such as Ashok Leyland have been looking to import, but getting a licence from the Government has proved elusive.
“Ashok Leyland had applied for a licence to import radial tyres in November last year. Out of the 20,000 unit import request, the Government has granted approval for only 5,000 units. However, it has still not given the licence,” sources said.
IOC to set up synthetic rubber plant at Panipat
Our Bureau
New Delhi, April 5
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) has entered into a joint venture with TSRC Corporation, Taiwan, and Marubeni Corporation, Japan, to set up a Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) unit at Panipat. The agreement was inked on Saturday.
The shareholding of IOC, TSRC, and Marubeni in the joint venture is 50 per cent, 30 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. The project is targeted to be completed by September 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs 900 crore, IOC said in a statement issued here.
According to the statement, with a capacity of 120,000 tonnes a year, the SBR unit will utilise butadiene feed made available from IOC's Panipat naphtha cracker complex to produce high quality synthetic rubber used in the manufacture of automotive tyres, conveyors, and fan belts, among others.
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