Where and How Rubber Is Grown
Kerala (Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kollam, Malappuram) produces most of India's natural rubber. Tripura is the second-largest state and the Northeast is the growth area. Rubber trees start yielding after about seven years and are tapped for latex for 25 years or more. Small growers make ribbed smoked sheets (RSS), while factories make block rubber (ISNR) and centrifuged latex.
- Rubber BoardKottayam · publishes daily prices and supports growersAboutExplore
- Kottayam rubber marketMain trading centreAboutExplore
- MRF LtdChennai · tyre maker; large rubber buyerAboutExplore
- Apollo Tyres LtdGurugram · tyre makerAboutExplore
- CEAT LtdMumbai · tyre makerAboutExplore
- JK Tyre & Industries LtdNew Delhi · tyre makerAboutExplore
See also WorldRubberIndustries.com.
Grades and Products
Most small growers in Kerala make ribbed smoked sheets: latex is coagulated with acid in pans, rolled into sheets, and dried in smoke houses. Sheets are graded RSS1 to RSS5 by cleanliness and colour; RSS4 is the benchmark grade quoted daily by the Rubber Board. Factories make ISNR (Indian Standard Natural Rubber) block rubber, preferred by tyre makers, and centrifuged latex for gloves, balloons, foam and condoms.
Price Drivers
Indian rubber prices follow the Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur markets, adjusted for import duty and freight. Tyre demand from the auto industry, monsoon disruption of tapping in Kerala, and labour shortages decide the domestic balance. When domestic prices fall below world prices, growers cut tapping; when they rise, imports grow.
New Growth in the Northeast
With little new land in Kerala, the Rubber Board and tyre companies are expanding plantations in Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, where rubber is replacing shifting cultivation on hill slopes.
Tapping season
Mostly September to February; tapping slows in summer leaf-fall and stops in heavy monsoon rain.Peak production
October to January.Lean season
March to June.Rubber by State
Tap a state for its districts, markets, government buying and buyers.
Processed Products
Related: Cotton · Cashew · Coconut · Arecanut · Rubber · Tobacco · Dry Fruits · All crops · Soils.in for farmer help
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