India rubber industry hopes cut in import duty

India rubber industry hopes cut in import duty

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): The rubber industry is optimistic that import duty on natural rubber would be cut to 7.5% from the current 20% due to the sharp rise in domestic prices said by All India Rubber Industries Association.

According to Vietnam Rubber Association, Vietnam exported 324,000 tons rubber in the first seven months of the calendar year, down 3.4% over the year.

China's tire output in July rose 9.50% from a year earlier to 63.08 million units, reported by the National Bureau of Statistics. Total output in the January-July period rose 25.30% from the same period last year to 444.64 million units.

China's natural rubber imports in July fell 11.8% from a year earlier to 150,000 metric tons, but were 15.4% higher than the preceding month, the General Administration of Customs said Tuesday. Total imports between January and July decreased 1% to 980,000 tons.

TOCOM decided to decrease the delivery unit from 10 tonnes to 5 tonnes in order to meet the needs of commercials and improve the convenience of the market. The Exchange received an approval from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to execute the necessary amendments to its Market Rules, which prescribe the delivery unit of each futures contract. Changes in the delivery unit of rubber futures will be applied from the March 2011 contract.


Vietnam rubber exports rebound in July


HANOI (Commodity Online) : World’s fifth largest rubber producer, Vietnam said its exports have shown positive signs as the volume and turnover have risen respectively by 2.3 and 92.4 percent in July compared the same period of 2009.

According to statistics of Ministry of Industry and Trade, in July, exports of natural rubber of Vietnam reached nearly 85,000 tonnes, worth $237 million, up by 46.7 percent in volume and 44.5 percent in value, compared to June 2010.

Compared to the same period of 2009, the export volume rose up by 2.3 percent, and value went up by 92.4 percent

Thus, in the first seven months of the year, exports of natural rubber reached 324,000 tonnes, worth $893million.

Although there was a slight decrease of about 3.4 percent in volume, value still increased significantly by about 85 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Till the first week of August 2010, natural rubber price has gone up compared to July 2010, since Chinese importers have again started to look for source of supply, after tightening imports in May and June 2010.

In addition, many other markets also enhanced the import of rubber such as Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, and India, etc.

Meanwhile, supplies from countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia grew slowly due to unfavourable weather conditions.

From June 2009, rubber price has risen continuously and hit a record of $410 per tonne in April 2010. However, in early May 2010, rubber price suddenly declined strongly, and then started going up again from mid June.

Vietnam Rubber Association said rubber exports of the country decreased in both volume and price in April and May 2010, since the rubber exploitation began, and the weather was not favourable.

An additional reason is Chinese authorities banned rubber exports across the border, and at the same time, China sold a large amount of rubber in stock. China is currently the biggest importer of Vietnamese rubber, holding 60 percent export market shares.

In the current situation, VRA said, exports of rubber materials would reach the planned target. The country's supply volume of latex is expected to reach 770,000 tonnes, up by 6.4 percent, compared to 2009.

Vietnam's export turnover of rubber may reach nearly $1.5 billion, up by about 22.3 percent compared to 2009.

Markets that increasingly import rubber from Vietnam are Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Germany, the US, Russia, and India, etc.

Notably, in addition to rubber material exports, exports of rubber products have also shown significant growth.

In the first seven months of 2010, rubber product exports reached $145 million, up by about 87 percent compared to the same period of last year.

Of that, value of tyres exported accounted for 70 to 80 percent the total export value of rubber products.

Import of rubber products of Vietnam in the first seven months of 2010 rose up slightly by 24.3 percent compared to the same period of last year.


Rubber Climbs to Three-Month High as Rains Curb Asian Supplies


Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber advanced for a third day to the highest level in more than three months on concern that rainfall in key producing countries will reduce supply, boosting the appeal of the commodity used to make tires.

The January-delivery contract advanced as much as 1.7 percent to 294.3 yen a kilogram ($3,430 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the highest level since May 6, before settling at 293.8 yen.

“A lot of rain in Southeast Asia this year has affected supply,” Gu Jiong, an analyst at commodity broker Yutaka Shoji Co., said by phone from Tokyo. The top three producers, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, account for about 70 percent of output.

Heavy rain is expected across Thailand, the largest producer, this week and next, the Thai Meteorological Department said on its website today. In Indonesia, rains are forecast in Sumatra, Kalimantan and parts of Sulawesi and Java this month and next, the Climatology and Geophysics Agency said on Aug. 11.

A La Nina weather event, which can bring above-average rainfall to parts of Asia, may persist until at least the end of this year, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said on its website yesterday.

Cash prices in Thailand gained 0.5 percent to 105.5 baht ($3.34) per kilogram as limited supply came onto the market after the rains, the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand said today on its website. January-delivery rubber in Shanghai rose 1.8 percent to close at 25,820 yuan ($3,803) a ton.

New Tax

“Some tiremakers began to buy rubber before a new tax in Thailand takes effect,” said Jiong at Yutaka Shoji. “From now to Sept. 30, we will see more buyers from Asia and the U.S.”

A higher levy on Thai exports ranging from 0.9 baht to 5 baht a kilogram, based on a sliding scale of free-on-board prices, will take effect from Oct. 1, replacing the existing levy that ranges from 0.9 baht a kilo to 1.4 baht.

A weaker yen and gains in Asian equities helped to support rubber today, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Tokyo-based IDO Securities Co. The yen fell to 85.92 per dollar from 85.46 yesterday, boosting the appeal of contracts denominated in the Japanese currency.

Buying also gained as some investors are worried supplies can’t be covered during upcoming holidays in producing countries, Yutaka Shoji’s Jiong said.

Markets in Indonesia, the second-largest exporter, will be closed for holidays from Sept. 9 to Sept. 13. Malaysia will have three public holidays next month.

Natural-rubber inventories in China expanded for a third week by 1,667 tons to 21,875 tons, based on a survey of 10 warehouses in Shanghai, Shandong, Yunnan, Hainan and Tianjin, the Shanghai Futures Exchange said Aug. 13. Stockpiles in Japanese warehouses climbed 3.7 percent to 3,396 tons on Aug. 10, according to data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan.

Top Glove Corp., the biggest rubber-glove maker, expects demand to grow 8 to 10 percent annually, spurred by health-care demand, Executive Director Lim Cheong Guan said on Aug. 18.