Our Bureau Kochi, April 9
Natural rubber is likely to rule dearer for some more time, but its long-term fortunes are dependant on the pace of global economic recovery, said Dr Stephen Evans, Secretary-General of International Rubber Study Group (IRSG).
In an interaction with the reporters on Friday, Dr Evans, who took over as the IRSG chief in January, said that boom in automobile sector across the globe especially in countries such as China and India augur well for natural rubber demand.
STIMULUS PACKAGE
But much depends on the Government stimulus packages which were boosting the auto sector across the globe.
The current auto boom could not be taken for granted and there can be overriding economic factors that decide the prospects of the industry and consequently the fortunes of rubber.
Dr Evans said that climate change and its impact on natural rubber production had emerged as a serious concern with the fall in production in most of the major rubber producing countries of late.
“As per a recent study, in Malaysia alone, climate vagaries have caused rubber yield to decline at least 3-4 per cent and enhanced the gestation period of new rubber plants from seven years to seven-and-half years,” he said, adding that this may be the general trend in all the rubber producing countries.
NO CLEAR INDICATION
He said that so far there was no clear indication that production of natural rubber has come down drastically due to the adverse impact of climate change.
The task force, constituted under the initiative of IRSG, Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) for evaluating the specific impact of climate change on NR production, is expected to submit its report at the earliest.
Spot rubber rules firm
Kottayam, April 9
Rubber prices ruled firm on Friday. In the spot market, the prices gained strength following smart recovery in domestic futures on the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE). Sheet rubber improved to Rs 160 from Rs 159 a kg on fresh buying and short covering. The trend was mixed as ISNR 20 and latex finished flat and the volumes continued to be meagre.
Futures gain
RSS 4 firmed up sharply with the April futures rising to Rs 160.70 (157.92), May to Rs 165.28 (161.58), June to Rs 167.64 (163.72) and July to Rs 166.50 (162.07) a kg on the NMCE. The April futures for RSS 3 improved marginally to ¥356.9 (¥356.3) (Rs 168.66), May to ¥353.2 (¥351), June to ¥349 (¥347.7) and July to ¥340 (¥339) a kg during the day session on Tokyo Commodity Exchange. The grade slipped to Rs 168.35 (168.35) a kg on Singapore Commodity Exchange.
Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 160 (159); RSS-5: 157.75 (157.50); ungraded: 156.50 (155.50); ISNR 20: 157 (157) and latex 60 per cent: 101 (101).
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