Kerala floods may lead to a drop of 55 percent in rubber production and consumption, said Rajiv Budhraja of Agricultural Technology Management Agency.

“The flood situation is getting reflected in the output that is coming from Kerala. We are anticipating this year a drop of 55 percent, the gap between production and consumption which was about 40 percent last year is likely to widen to 55 percent," he said.

Talking about price of rubber going forward, he said, “We are the second largest consumer of rubber in the world immediately following China. When India steps into the global market it impacts the global demand –supply and without commenting anything on the price as such all I can say is that it will be a function of demand and supply when our own supply side there is so much of tightness I think the demand itself will be a key driver for the global supplies as also the prices there.”