Spot rubber prices steady

Spot rubber prices steady

Kottayam, Feb. 9

Spot rubber finished unchanged on Tuesday. The market lost it direction lacking quantity buyers and sellers either side to set the trend during a comparatively dull trading session.

Reports from the futures markets were also not so impressive to catalyse the market mood. Sheet rubber was quoted flat at Rs 132.50 a kg amidst scattered transactions. The volumes were low.

Futures improve

The February futures for RSS 4 improved to Rs 132.98 (132.68), March to Rs 135.80 (134.90), April to Rs 140.04 (138.71) and May to Rs 143.10 (141.32) a kg on National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE). RSS 3 firmed up to Rs 139.38 (139.08) a kg on Singapore Commodity Exchange (SICOM). The grade moved up Rs 140.69 (139.92) a kg at Bangkok. The February futures recovered to ¥262.6 (¥258.5) (Rs 136.74), March to ¥263.9 (¥259), April to ¥264.5 (¥260.4) and May to ¥266.2 (¥262.1 a kg for RSS 3 during the day session on Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 132.50 (132.50); RSS-5: 130 (130); ungraded: 127.50 (127.50); ISNR 20: 130 (130) and latex 60 per cent: 89 (89).

NR output up 6% in January
Natural rubber (NR) production registered a rise of 6 per cent in January, at 97,500 tonnes against 91,900 tonnes in the same month last year.

The rise in production was due to favourable winter season and maximum tapping by growers due to the prevailing higher prices. In most of the rubber plantations, tapping is expected to be prolonged for a couple of weeks as the climate in the hill areas of Kerala is cold. So the production in February is also expected to improve. According to stockists, production in February may cross 50,000 tonnes against 43,000 tonnes in February 2009.(BS)

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/nr-output6-in-january/385016/