JK Tyre to Bump Prices by 4%

India’s JK Tyre has told the country’s Economic Times that it will likely increase the price of its product range by a figure of up to 4 per cent. The rise would be put down to higher costs, especially natural rubber. The online report also said that JK Tyres’s prices have risen by more than 10 per cent since May.

The manufacturer’s marketing director AS Mehta told the Economic Times: “After the monsoon, demand usually rises after September 15. There is a strong possibility of raising the rates by 3-4 per cent by the end of this month.”

Further rises are not currently predicted: “natural rubber prices are hovering around 160 rupees per kg and if it remains at this level, there will be no further price hike in this year,” Mehta said. Rubber prices usually go down in September, since the natural rubber harvest comes on the market.

India’s tyre industry has attempted to influence legislation on the continued rise in costs. There are growing calls for the scrappage of the 20 per cent import duty on natural rubber, the abolishment of futures trading in the commodity, and to exclude natural rubber from negative lists under regional trade agreements, says the Economic Times.