Rubber Imports by India Seen Slumping as Car Sales Shrink
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Natural rubber imports by India, the world’s third-biggest user, are poised to decline for the first time in five years from a record as declining car sales crimp demand for the commodity used in tires.
Inbound shipments are estimated to drop 17 percent to 180,000 metric tons in the year that started April 1 from an all-time high of 217,364 tons a year earlier, Sheela Thomas, chairman of the Rubber Board of India, said in an e-mailed interview. The biggest slump in car sales since 2001 last year boosted local rubber stockpiles 13 percent to 266,000 tons, and will make up for a domestic shortfall in supplies, she said.