This work aimed to specify and estimate the Brazilian import demand for natural rubber from 1964 to 2005. The variables applied to explain import demand were: natural rubber import price, GNP per capita, exchange nominal rate (R$/US$), "overnight" interest rate, natural rubber domestic production and trend. The estimates showed that the variables significantly affected the Brazilian import demand for natural rubber. The results indicated that the Brazilian import demand for natural rubber is inelastic in relation to import price and income; little sensitive to variations in import price, exchange nominal rate (R$/US$), income and "overnight" interest rate but it is sensitive to domestic rubber production variations , in the short and long runs; and that natural rubber is a regular commodity.
Natural rubber; importation demand
