Compounded rubber made up 43.2% of the natural and compounded rubber India imported in fiscal 2025-26, up from 18.2% in 2019-20, according to Rubber Board data. Imports of compounded rubber (HS 4005) reached 349,000 tonnes, 3.4 times the 101,703 tonnes of six years earlier, while imports of raw natural rubber (HS 4001) fell 16.7% to 459,000 tonnes.
The headline drop in natural rubber imports therefore says little about Indian demand for imported rubber. Combined imports rose 1.5%, from 796,000 tonnes to 808,000 tonnes. What changed was the customs heading the material crossed the border under, and that heading decides the duty: up to 25% for block rubber, against 0% to 5% for most compounded rubber shipped from ASEAN under the India-ASEAN free trade agreement.
Compounded rubber imports tripled while natural rubber imports went sideways
Natural rubber imports have moved within a band of roughly 410,000 to 551,000 tonnes a year since 2019-20, with no clear trend. Compounded rubber climbed almost every year: 95,566 tonnes in 2020-21, 137,018 tonnes in 2022-23, 169,820 tonnes in 2023-24, 245,000 tonnes in 2024-25 and 349,000 tonnes in 2025-26. That is a compound annual growth rate of 22.8% over six years, and growth sped up at the end, with gains of 44.3% in 2024-25 and 42.4% in 2025-26.
The acceleration shows up inside 2024-25 as well. The Ministry of Commerce told Parliament in February 2025 that 145,655 tonnes had arrived between April and November 2024, about 18,200 tonnes a month. The full-year figure of 245,000 tonnes implies about 24,800 tonnes a month from December to March.
| Fiscal year | Natural rubber imports (t) | Compounded rubber imports (t) | Combined (t) | Compounded share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 457,223 | 101,703 | 558,926 | 18.2% |
| 2020-21 | 410,478 | 95,566 | 506,044 | 18.9% |
| 2021-22 | 546,369 | 114,638 | 661,007 | 17.3% |
| 2022-23 | 528,677 | 137,018 | 665,695 | 20.6% |
| 2023-24 | 492,682 | 169,820 | 662,502 | 25.6% |
| 2024-25 | 551,000 | 245,000 | 796,000 | 30.8% |
| 2025-26 | 459,000 | 349,000 | 808,000 | 43.2% |
In 2025-26 the two series moved in opposite directions by similar amounts. Natural rubber imports fell by 92,000 tonnes and compounded rubber imports rose by 104,000 tonnes. A reader who tracks only HS 4001 would conclude that India needed less foreign rubber last year. The combined series says the opposite.
A duty gap of up to 25 percentage points explains where the tonnes went
The schedule the Rubber Board supplied to Parliament in February 2025 sets out the incentive plainly. Smoked sheets, technically specified block rubber and other dry forms (HS 400121, 400122 and 400129) pay 25% or Rs 30 per kg, whichever is lower. Natural rubber latex (HS 400110) pays 70%. Compounded rubber mixed with carbon black or silica (HS 400510) shows an applicable duty of 0%, and other compounded forms (HS 400520, 400591 and 400599) show 5%.
The flows followed that gap. HS 400510 imports from ASEAN countries rose from 50,908 tonnes in 2019-20 to 74,290 tonnes in 2022-23 and then jumped 53.0% to 113,684 tonnes in 2023-24. Their share of all compounded rubber imports went from 50.1% to 66.9% over those five years, and reached 74.0% in April to November 2024. Every other compounded rubber heading from ASEAN stayed below 1,000 tonnes a year.
HS 400510 is the heading for rubber pre-mixed with carbon black or silica, the reinforcing fillers that make up much of a tire tread compound. It is also the heading most easily used to move rubber that is close to a raw state. In March 2023 the Rubber Board's executive director, K N Raghavan, told the European Rubber Journal that the sharp rise in compound imports had raised suspicion that mixed natural rubber was being imported as compound. He added that the preferential rate can only be changed by renegotiating the FTA, not through the budget.
The February 2023 duty increase did not slow the flow
The Union Budget presented on 1 February 2023 raised the basic customs duty on compounded rubber from 10% to 25% or Rs 30 per kg, whichever is lower, to align it with block rubber. The Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association opposed the move the same day, arguing it would raise production costs. The planters' body UPASI pointed out within days that the increase applied only to most-favored-nation imports, not to ASEAN partners covered by the FTA.
The data support UPASI's reading. Compounded rubber imports were 137,018 tonnes in 2022-23, the year before the change. They rose to 169,820 tonnes in the first full year after it, then to 245,000 and 349,000 tonnes. The higher MFN rate appears to have pushed more of the trade toward ASEAN suppliers rather than reducing it, which fits the rise in the ASEAN HS 400510 share from 54.2% to 66.9% between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The issue is still live in Parliament. In a Lok Sabha submission, Kerala MP Anto Antony said compound rubber was entering under HS 4005 at 5% duty from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, cited 360,500 tonnes of rubber imports in April to December 2025, and asked the government to restrict compound imports that misuse the HS code.
Natural rubber statistics now understate what Indian factories use
India produced 905,000 tonnes of natural rubber in 2025-26, up 3.4%, and consumed 1,427,000 tonnes, up 1.2%. Domestic output covered 63.4% of consumption, against 62.1% in 2022-23 and 60.5% in 2023-24. On those numbers, India's self-sufficiency is edging up and the import gap narrowed from 559,000 tonnes in 2023-24 to 522,000 tonnes in 2025-26.
The catch is that compounded rubber is not counted as natural rubber when it arrives. A tire plant that swaps block rubber for imported masterbatch lowers its reported natural rubber consumption even if its tire output is unchanged. The Rubber Board's own figures hint at this. Auto tire manufacturers used 948,395 tonnes of natural rubber in 2022-23, or 70.3% of national consumption. The Board's statistics panel reported in May 2026 that auto tires now account for about 64% of consumption and that their use fell 4.0% in 2025-26, while general rubber goods grew.
The two numbers do not prove substitution on their own. A part of the tonnage under HS 4005 is carbon black, silica and oil rather than rubber, and some of it goes to belts, hoses and molded goods. But the timing matches: the year tire makers' natural rubber use fell 4.0% is the year compounded imports rose by 104,000 tonnes. Any analysis of Indian rubber demand that stops at HS 4001 now misses a large share of the material reaching factory floors.
Sourcing has moved toward Africa for raw rubber and ASEAN for compound
The shift is not limited to product form. Within natural rubber, imports from Côte d'Ivoire rose from 27,056 tonnes in 2019-20 to 121,046 tonnes in 2022-23, or 22.9% of the total, and reached 104,310 tonnes in April to November 2024. ASEAN's natural rubber tonnage fell from 418,373 tonnes in 2019-20 to 382,915 tonnes in 2023-24. ASEAN suppliers have kept their position in India mainly by selling compound rather than block rubber.
Indian processors are also selling compound abroad. The European Rubber Journal reported in August 2026 that India's compounded rubber exports rose 12.7% to 19,261 tonnes in 2025-26 and climbed 45.8% year on year to 6,526 tonnes in April to June 2026. Those volumes remain small next to 349,000 tonnes of imports.
What the shift means for tire makers, growers, distributors and investors
Tire makers
Compound from ASEAN offers a duty saving of up to 25 percentage points on the rubber content and moves part of the mixing step offshore. The exposure is regulatory. Raghavan's 2023 comments and the recent Lok Sabha submission show that both the Rubber Board and growers' representatives want the route closed. Procurement teams relying on HS 400510 should model a scenario in which preferential treatment is narrowed in a future review of the India-ASEAN agreement, and keep qualified block rubber suppliers, including African origins, ready.
Raw-material buyers and traders
Price comparisons between Indian RSS grades and imported block rubber now leave out a large share of the market. A buyer benchmarking landed cost should compare domestic sheet with ASEAN compound on a rubber-content basis, after netting out the filler weight. Carbon black and silica sold into Indian tire plants are also affected, because filler that arrives already mixed displaces local filler demand. Our tire carbon black market report covers that supply chain.
Growers, dealers and distributors
Domestic output rose 27.1% between 2019-20 and 2025-26, from 712,000 to 905,000 tonnes, yet imported material still supplies a growing share in compound form. Dealers whose margin depends on tire-plant offtake of sheet rubber face a buyer base that has a duty-free alternative for part of its needs.
OEMs and investors
For vehicle makers sourcing tires locally, the shift is mostly invisible in tire prices, but it creates a policy risk that could raise input costs quickly if the FTA treatment changes. Investors should read Indian tire makers' natural rubber consumption data alongside compound imports before drawing conclusions about volume trends or margins. Background on demand and pricing is available in our natural rubber market report and our rubber compounds market report.
Methodology and sources
All tonnages are Rubber Board figures for India's April to March fiscal year. Compounded rubber share is compounded rubber imports divided by the sum of natural rubber and compounded rubber imports. Self-sufficiency is natural rubber production divided by natural rubber consumption. Growth rates, shares and monthly averages were recalculated from the source tonnages. Compounded rubber tonnages include filler and oil, so they are not a direct measure of rubber content. Figures for 2024-25 and 2025-26 are provisional.
- Ministry of Commerce, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 292, 4 February 2025: natural and compounded rubber imports 2019-20 to April-November 2024, applicable import duties by HS code, ASEAN imports by HS code, natural rubber imports by country.
- Ministry of Commerce, Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1241, 30 July 2024: natural rubber production and imports 2015-16 to 2023-24.
- Parliament of India, Unstarred Question 2649, 5 August 2025: natural rubber production and consumption for 2024-25.
- Rubber Board, Rubber Statistical News, March 2024: 2022-23 natural rubber consumption and auto tire manufacturers' consumption.
- Lok Sabha submission by Anto Antony: compound rubber duty under the India-ASEAN FTA and April-December 2025 import figure.
- Tyre Trends, 29 May 2026: Rubber Board Statistics Consultative Panel figures for 2024-25 and 2025-26, including compounded rubber imports and auto tire consumption.
- UNI India, 7 October 2026: confirmation of 2024-25 and 2025-26 production and consumption.
- Indigenous Herald, 21 June 2024: Rubber Board figures for 2023-24 consumption and compounded rubber imports.
- PTI via LatestLY, 1 February 2023: Budget 2023-24 duty change on compounded rubber and ATMA's response.
- European Rubber Journal, 2 March 2023: UPASI concerns and Rubber Board comments on the ASEAN preferential rate.
- European Rubber Journal, 24 August 2026: India's compounded rubber exports for 2024-25, 2025-26 and April-June 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
349,000 tonnes, up from 245,000 tonnes in 2024-25 and 101,703 tonnes in 2019-20, according to Rubber Board figures.
Natural rubber imports fell 16.7% to 459,000 tonnes, but combined natural and compounded rubber imports rose 1.5% to 808,000 tonnes because compound imports grew by 104,000 tonnes.
Up to 25 percentage points of duty: block rubber pays 25% or Rs 30 per kg, whichever is lower, while compounded rubber with carbon black or silica (HS 400510) shows a 0% applicable duty under the ASEAN FTA.
169,820 tonnes arrived in 2023-24, up from 137,018 tonnes in 2022-23, and imports reached 349,000 tonnes in 2025-26, because the higher rate did not apply to ASEAN FTA partners.
66.9% of compounded rubber imports in 2023-24 were HS 400510 from ASEAN countries, up from 50.1% in 2019-20, and the share reached 74.0% in April to November 2024.
63.4% in 2025-26: India produced 905,000 tonnes against consumption of 1,427,000 tonnes, though compounded imports are not counted in that consumption.