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PRESENTATION BEFORE THE EXPERT COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL RUBBER POLICY. M SUNNY SEBASTIAN DIRECTOR (RTD.) RUBBER BOARD REPRESENTING ASSOCIATION OF LATEX PRODUCERS OF INDIA drsunnysebastian @gmail.com 09447057248 O481 2572488. RUBBER PLANTATION SECTOR.
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PRESENTATION BEFORE THE EXPERT COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL RUBBER POLICY M SUNNY SEBASTIAN DIRECTOR (RTD.) RUBBER BOARD REPRESENTING ASSOCIATION OF LATEX PRODUCERS OF INDIA drsunnysebastian @gmail.com 09447057248 O481 2572488
RUBBER PLANTATION SECTOR Major issues to be addressed at Plantations are: Production Productivity Economic Viability
ENHANCED NR PRODUCTION Factors related to NR production are: • Area expansion – more relevant to North East region • Timely replanting • High yielding clones – resistance to disease
ENHANCED NR PRODUCTION • Proper up keep of plantations. • Availability of funds • Skilled labour – especially tappers • Higher out put from workers • Better incentives and welfare measures to workers
IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTIVITY • Development of high yielding clones suitable for the region with special reference to agro climatic conditions. • Clones resistant to pests and diseases. • Proper maintenance of plantations.
IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTIVITY • Improved tapping practices. • Better out put from workers. • Means to overcome global warming and adverse climatic conditions.
ECONOMIC VIABILITY Rubber planters shall get a reasonable profit from plantations. Contributing factors are: • Assured market demand • Price of NR – Domestic Vs International • Control over price volatality. • Labour availability at reasonable wages Contd…..
ECONOMIC VIABILITY • Improved out put from workers • Availability of plantation inputs at reasonable prices • High quality of processed rubber. • Auxiliary income from plantations, especially during immature phase. • Demand of rubber wood.
RUBBER PROCESSING • Crop from plantations are field latex and field coagulum. • Marketable forms of NR are RSS, TSR, Crepe rubber, (PLC,EBC), Preserved field latex and Concentrated latex.
DRAWBACKS OF INDIAN NATURAL RUBBER • Lack of uniformity and consistency. • Low quality (lot rubber, block rubber processed out of field coagulum from small growers).
CONSISTENT SUPPLIES OF NATURAL RUBBER. • Being a natural product NR has some inherent variability. • NR supplies from small grower sector are highly variable. • Large volume consumers demand consistency in properties. • Group processing activities, operating on a large scale can provide consistent supplies.
QUALITY OF NATURAL RUBBER • Quality of sheet rubber. • Quality of TSR. • Quality of concentrated latex
QUALITY OF SHEET RUBBER • Poor rubber processing practices at small grower level. • Even after continued quality upgrading activities, at least 25% of RSS are below RSS 5 grade. • Group processing activities, following standard operating procedures, can supply high quality RSS.
QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY OF TSR • In India , above 90 % of the total TSR is produced out of field coagulum (FC). Accordingly quality of FC is very important. • Poor handling and storage practices for FC. • TSR factories operating on a large scale can produce consistent TSR. • FC before undergoing quality deterioration shall be available to TSR processors.
ISSUES FACED BY TSR PROCESSORS • Scarcity of raw material FC and its high price. • Storage of FC by growers and traders. • High conversion cost due to low capacity utilization. • Poor quality of FC. Contd…
ISSUES FACED BY TSR PROCESSORS • Low demand from consuming industries. • TSR factories in India are of low installed capacities. Hence large volume supplies of consistent quality to bulk consumers are not possible. • Bulk consumers prefer imported TSR.
HOW TO SORT OUT THE TSR ISSUE. • Large volume availability of FC. • This may be met by imports. • Availability of FC by imports will prevent long storage and quality deterioration of domestically produced FC.
IMPORT OF FIELD COAGULUM • Will not affect the domestic rubber scenario. • Now large volumes of TSR, processed out of FC are imported. • TSR factories can reduce conversion costs due to increased capacity utilization. • More job opportunities in India. Contd….
IMPORT OF FIELD COAGULUM • Value addition of FC done in our country. • Profit margin to Indian Industries. • Savings in foreign exchange. • Import of FC will indirectly improve the quality of our FC. • Now import of FC is not allowed.
COST REDUCTION IN RUBBER PROCESSING • Mechanization in material handling. This will reduce human fatigue. • Waste reduction • Energy management and waste energy recovery. • Development of driers to reduce fuel consumption, labour and time for sheet processing.
CONCENTRATED LATEX • Centrifugal process ~ 95%. • Creaming ~ 5%. • Sale of field latex – the easiest method of sale to rubber growers. • Increasing transportation cost to processing factory. • Non availability of field latex in all seasons. Contd…
CONCENTRATED LATEX • Almost all latex processing units operate on small scale. • Low capacity utilization. • Poor market demand • Cost of inputs always on increasing trend • Low price of concentrated latex.
QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY OF CONCENTRATED • Inconsistency in quality of preserved field latex. • Supplies of concentrated latex shall meet Indian standards. • Consistency in quality is lacking. • Manufactures of condoms and medical gloves require high quality concentrated latex, but price is not attractive.
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION • Rubber processing is associated with some amount of air and water pollution. • Development of process to reduce environment pollution. • Installation of environment protection measures. • Agencies to provide technical support in environment protection at reasonable cost.
TRADER ACTIVITY IN NR SECTOR • Trading is an essential branch of any industry. • Storing of raw rubber (sheet, FC and PFL) for long periods lead to quality deterioration. • Maximum shelf life without appreciable quality deterioration may be six months. Contd…
TRADER ACTIVITY IN NR SECTOR • Benefit of storing goes to traders. • Some funding mechanism and infrastructure for storing as a group activity of rubber growers.
NR IN NON CONVENTIONAL APPLICATIONS • Proven avenues are available, but not utilized.(eg. Rubberized bitumen.) • New areas of application to be developed. (eg. Corrosion resistant (to sea water) NR based paints. Flame resistant conveyor belts based on NR).
PROMOTIONS OF NEW RUBBER BASED INDUSTRIES • Government may provide financial support in setting up new rubber based industries, that are cost competitive. • Rubber products can be sold either in India or exported. Now we are importing a lot of rubber articles. • New factories will generate more job opportunities in the country. • Domestically produced rubber will have assured market.
SYNTHETIC RUBBERS • Largest volume rubber is SBR. • Domestic production of synthetic rubbers is low. We depend mostly on imports. • In some areas NR cannot replace SR. • Some more SR factories required in India.
SYNTHETIC RUBBERS • Raw material for SR production mostly oil based. • Most synthetic rubbers are less biodegradable compared to NR. • In India mandatory quality parameters for NR, but not for SR. • Consignments from different suppliers vary, but no mechanism for control.
RECLAIMED RUBBER • Recycling of worn out rubber articles (especially tyres) is essential for environment protection. • Reclaimed rubber is cheap. • Being a recycled material, performance characteristics are lower than virgin rubber.
RECLAIMED RUBBER • Consumption of reclaimed rubber to be promoted, especially in non critical applications. • Virgin rubber (NR or SR) can be conserved. • Some reclaim manufactures follow very crude methods, producing inferior materials
RUBBER PRODUCT MANUFACTURE • India is the second largest rubber consumer; but our consumption is only about 25% of that of China. • Ample scope for expansion. • Import substitution. • Export potential.
R & D ACTIVITIES : PRIORITIES IN PRODUCT MANUFACTURE • Replacement of chemicals that are objected by consuming countries. • Development of faster curing systems, without affecting product performance. • Technology for enhanced service life of rubber articles
LICENCING PROCEDURE • Licenses are required from various government departments • Single window licensing procedure may be implemented through out the country for rubber based industries. • There shall be a time frame for licensing procedures. • Immediate solution to grievances.
COMMON TESTING FACILITIES • Testing equipment in rubber industry are expensive. • Trained personnel are required. • Use of equipment for short periods only. Industries on a charged basis. • Govt. may provide common testing facilities at various centers, which can be used by industries.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO INDUSTRIES Technical services at reasonable rates may be available for • Rubber compound development • Updated information on regulations in other countries. (eg. FDA regulations in US, REACH restrictions in EU countries. • Technical assistance in trouble shooting.
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