Increasing market demand of rubber has led to high prices. Meanwhile the production in 1999-00 has been estimated that 5.54 lakh tonnes. On the other hand the consumption for the April to January period of 99-00 stood at 5.21 lakh tonnes. It is against this backdrop that the prices have registered a moderate upswing. Prices which stood at Rs 2,865 per quintal in December 1999, moved up to Rs 3,099 in January 2000. In February prices touched Rs 3,133 per quintal. Though the monthly average price declined in March to Rs 3,049 it improved to Rs 3,199 per quintal in April. By May 9, the prices had climbed to Rs 3,375 per quintal for RSS 4 variety. Market analysts pointed out that the slow down in production in the lean months in the recent past and the increase in demand that has occurred in the past few months has resulted in an increase in prices. |
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