Natural rubber (NR) has its own domineering position in the industry owing to the superior technical performance of this natural elastomer over the synthetic counterpart and its demand will continue to grow aligned with growth of the tyre and vehicle industry, says Dr Lekshmi Nair, Head of Economics & Statistics of the Singapore-based International Rubber Study Group (IRSG). In an exclusive interview to Rubber Asia, she talks at length about the present challenges of the global NR industry in the context of the steep downturn in NR prices and about what is in store for this vital agro-industrial raw material in the days to come. EXCERPTS:
Do you think that factors other than the fundamentals of demand and supply have a major influence on rubber prices. If so please elaborate?
The fundamentals of supply and demand are the major drives for rubber prices. Market imbalance resulting from a disappointing global demand growth during 2012-15 (1.8 per cent) compared to an impressive 3.9 per cent during 2002-11 period caused losing the investor confidence in natural rubber as a financial commodity.
NR prices are also driven by factors other than market fundamentals, notably the price of crude oil, primarily because oil-based feed stocks are used for production of synthetic elastomer. Another factor influencing prices is the currencies of countries where rubber is traded. TOCOM is the primary market for rubber futures and trends in the yen would have an impact on NR prices. However, traded volumes on TOCOM have been in decline for a few years and exchanges in Singapore and Shanghai have started to take more market share. More generally, and like all actively traded commodities, investor sentiments can likely influence rubber prices beyond fundamentals in the short-term.
According to you, what would be the demand-supply scenario of NR in short-term, medium term and long term?
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2017 IRE Issue من Rubber Asia.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2017 IRE Issue من Rubber Asia.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
EVS: What's In Store For Rubber Auto Components?
Evs are going to rule our roads sooner or later. The crucial question here is: How far will this affect the rubber auto components sector? Though there are no clear estimations of the impact of EVs on the auto components industry, indications are that innovative and light-weight rubber and plastic components will have immense scope in the EV era.
TECHNOLOGY IS DISRUPTING TRUCK TIRE MAINTENANCE
Companies that adopt disruptive technologies like Cloud-based, TPMS 2.0 systems position themselves to be extremely successful in a fastchanging and highly-competitive environment by utilizing the data and visibility this technology provides to optimize tire performance and maintenance and expedite operations.
SLOWDOWN HAS NO IMPACT ON AUTO RUBBER COMPONENT INDUSTRY
FROST & SULLIVAN EXECUTIVES
PROVIDING SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL RUBBER COMPOUND REQUIREMENTS WITH STATE OF THE ART MIXING FACILITY: MR. ADITYA GUPTA, CEO, GB GUMMI LLP
GB Group has been a leading innovator, manufacturer and supplier of rubber molded, rubber to metal bonded and sealing products for automotive and industrial applications for over three decades. With experience and foresight of more than 37 years with GB rubber products, GB Gummi LLP is a strategical move of entering into the rubber compounding business with its expertise in the manufacturing of rubber products, realizing the growing demand for the high-quality rubber compound. In an interview with Rubber Asia, Aditya Gupta, CEO of the company, says that GB Gummi LLP is poised to make significant strides in the global rubber compounding market. According to him, the company will closely monitor the current and future demands of the automotive industry. “As far as compounding is concerned, we are future-ready in terms of recipes and production capabilities for any form of industry,” he adds. EXCERPTS:
INDIAN NR MARkET GETS A BREATHER
After the recent spell of poor prices mainly on account of growing imports and lower international prices, the Indian natural rubber market is witnessing a resurgence of late. The trend is attributed to the slump in production in the major NR producing countries like Thailand and Indonesia due to widespread fungal infection in rubber trees. Against this backdrop, indications are that domestic prices are all set to bounce.
HOW OLD IS TOO OLD?
Following the UK proposal for a ban on heavy duty tyres over 10 years of age and the possible extension of this to tyres used on taxis as well, most new tyre manufacturers are more cautious of setting an age limit on the use of their products than stressing the importance of regular checking and good maintenance.
FOR WIDENING SKILLING REACH RSDC & NSKFDC JOIN HANDS
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EFFICIENCIES & SURVIVAL
What other low hanging fruit is available to the modern transport operator that compares with the savings that can be generated by real time monitoring of tyres? Give the humble tyre that supports the loads you impose the only thing it requires to perform for your gain -- the appropriate level of inflation. It is only air, it costs little and provides far greater returns than any other “improvement”
BATTLE RAGING AGAINST PART-WORNS IN EUROPE
Recently organisations around Europe have stepped up their ongoing campaigns against the continued totally illegal and irresponsible practice of promoting and selling part-worn tyres
APOLLO TYRES JOINS WITH GARC FOR FIRST TYRE TEST TRACK IN INDIA
This test track will be used for testing wet grip of tyres as per standard specifications
