Spot rubber hits Rs 165/kg

Spot rubber hits Rs 165/kg
Kottayam, May 21

The rubber prices moved up further on Friday. In spot, sheet rubber increased to Rs 165 from Rs 163 a kg mainly on covering purchases.

According to sources, the prices remained firm catalysed by the bullish global markets but the domestic markets appeared to be moving also under the grip of speculators. There were no quantity sellers even at higher levels probably due to acute short supply.

Futures gain

The June futures closed at Rs 166.50 (164.71), July at Rs 166.59 (164.71), August at Rs 158.12 (157.37) and September at Rs 153.70 (154.18) a kg for RSS 4 on National Multi Commodity Exchange. The May futures weakened to ¥367.8/Rs 191.95 (¥373), while the June futures improved to ¥350 (¥349.3), July to ¥322 (¥309.5) August to ¥284.8 (¥278), September to ¥271.6 (¥267.7) and October to ¥266.7 (¥263.8) a kg for RSS 3 during the day session on Tokyo Commodity Exchange. RSS 3 (spot) firmed up further to Rs 171.50 (168.04) a kg at Bangkok.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 165 (163); RSS-5: 162 (159); ungraded: 160 (156); ISNR 20: 142.50 (141) and latex 60 per cent: 103 (101).


Mangalore co-op to start rubber procurement

Mangalore, May 21

The Mangalore Agriculturists' Sahakari Sangha (MASS) Ltd, a co-operative involved in the procurement and marketing of arecanut, is planning to enter the rubber market.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Mr T.G. Rajarama Bhat, President of MASS Ltd, said that the cooperative has approached the Rubber Board for licence to procure rubber from growers in Karnataka. Once the co-operative gets permission, it will start procuring rubber at Sullia and Puttur towns of Dakshina Kannada district.

Now MASS acts as an agent for the Belthangady Rubber Society to procure rubber at Uppinangady in Dakshina Kannada district.

Rubber Gains to One-Week High as Thai Riots May Disrupt Supply
Posted: 20 May 2010 05:53 PM PDT


May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber advanced to the highest level in more than a week as clashes between security forces and protesters in Thailand raised concern that supply from the world’s largest exporter may be disrupted.

Futures in Tokyo gained for a third day, advancing as much as 2.3 percent to the highest level since May 11, as fighting continued in Bangkok a day after the forced surrender of anti- government protesters left 16 people dead.

Rioters set fire to 31 buildings including several banks in Bangkok, Thanom Onketpol, an adviser to the city’s governor, said on the PBS television network. Protesters also torched a city hall in Udon Thani province and seized a government building in Khon Kaen, both in the northeast of the country. Thailand is the world’s largest producer and shipper of rubber.

“Riots in Thailand were spreading from Bangkok to other areas, raising concern that violence may escalate further and disrupt transportation of the raw material,” Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at research and investment company JSC Corp. in Tokyo, said today by phone.

Rubber for October delivery, the most-active contract, gained as much as 6.1 yen to 273.8 yen per kilogram ($2,984 a metric ton) before trading at 269.3 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 11:52 a.m. local time.

The price earlier declined to as low as 262.6 yen as a drop in equities markets raised speculation that economic growth may stall. Asian stocks fell for the fifth straight day amid concern that Europe’s debt crisis may derail a recovery as governments take austerity measures to reduce deficits.

Risk Appetite

The risk appetite of investors also dropped as Germany this week introduced a temporary ban on naked short selling to calm the region’s financial markets.

“Germany’s short-sale restriction is prompting suspicion that the situation is actually worse than investors think,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $450 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co.

Rubber futures have retreated 20 percent after climbing to a 21-month high of 338.5 yen on April 16 on a seasonal drop in supply from Thailand.

Producers in Thailand’s south, the major growing area, have resumed tapping rubber trees as the low-production period known as wintering ends, Shigemoto said.

Thai shippers offered so-called RSS-3 grade rubber for July shipment at $3.50 a kilogram yesterday, up from $3.15 on May 14, he said.

September-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 0.5 percent to 21,955 yuan ($3,216) a ton at 10:58 a.m. local time.

(bloomberg.com)





Rubber Drops, Reversing Earlier Gains, as Asian Stocks Slump
Posted: 20 May 2010 05:45 PM PDT

May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber declined, reversing earlier gains, as a slump in Asian stocks raised concern that the economic recovery may stall and reduce demand for the raw material used in tires.

Futures in Tokyo dropped for the first day in three. The price reached the highest level since May 11 earlier as clashes between Thai security forces and protesters stoked concern that supply from the world’s largest exporter may be disrupted.

Asian stocks tumbled after slower-than-estimated growth in Japan drove Tokyo shares lower for a second day. While the Japanese economy grew at the fastest pace in three quarters, the 4.9 percent expansion was less than the 5.5 percent median forecast of 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey.

“Losses in the equities markets eroded investor confidence in the recovery, leading to sales of rubber futures,” Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at research and investment company JSC Corp. in Tokyo, said today by phone.

Rubber for October delivery, the most-active contract, lost 1.5 percent to settle at 263.8 yen per kilogram ($2,886 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.7 percent to 112.81 at 4:53 p.m. in Tokyo, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.5 percent to 10,030.31. Japan’s Finance Minister Naoto Kan warned that the economy was in a deflationary state.

Risk Appetite

The risk appetite of investors also dropped after Germany this week introduced a temporary ban on naked short-selling to calm the region’s financial markets.

“Germany’s short-sale restriction is prompting suspicion that the situation is actually worse than investors think,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $450 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co.

Losses in rubber futures were limited as fighting continued in Bangkok a day after the forced surrender of anti-government protesters left 16 people dead.

Rioters set fire to 31 buildings including several banks in Bangkok, Thanom Onketpol, an adviser to the city’s governor, said on the PBS television network. Protesters also torched a city hall in Udon Thani province and seized a government building in Khon Kaen, both in the northeast of the country.

“Riots in Thailand were spreading from Bangkok to other areas, raising concern that violence may escalate further and disrupt transportation of the raw material,” Shigemoto said.

Rubber futures have retreated 22 percent since reaching a 21-month high of 338.5 yen on April 16 on a seasonal drop in supply from Thailand.

Producers in Thailand’s south, the major growing area, have resumed tapping rubber trees as the low-production period known as wintering ends, Shigemoto said.

Cash prices in Thailand advanced on concerns that supplies will remain low because of drought, the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand said on its website today.

The price of Thai RSS-3 grade rubber for June delivery, which excludes freight and insurance, gained 1.7 percent today to 117.85 baht ($3.64) a kilogram, it said.

September-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 0.4 percent to 21,765 yuan ($3,188) a ton, reversing an earlier advance of 2.4 percent.

(bloomberg.com)





Rubber Futures in Tokyo Reverse Gains as Stock Market Declines
Posted: 20 May 2010 05:43 PM PDT
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber futures in Tokyo reversed earlier gains as Asian stocks dropped, raising concern that the economic recovery may stall.

The October-delivery contract lost 0.7 percent to 265.9 yen per kilogram at 2:49 p.m. local time. The price gained as much as 2.3 percent to 273.8 yen earlier.

(bloomberg.com)





China is the largest buyer of Malaysian rubber
Posted: 20 May 2010 05:31 PM PDT
Market Review on Rubber
Rubber advanced for the first time in three days as rising crude oil prices improved the appeal of the raw material used to make tyres. Futures gained as much as 1.9 percent after falling 3.6 percent on Monday to the lowest close in five months. Rubber has tumbled 24 percent since climbing to a 21-month high of 338.5 yen April 16. Tocom rubber opened higher on bargain hunting, stayed in positive territory, but gains only gathered pace in later part of trading day with investors covering
short positions as spot May supplies tight.

The much awaited south-west monsoon on Monday (May 17) brought first showers to the Andaman and Nicobar islands, setting the stage for its early progression towards Kerala, According to the Director General of the India Meteorological Department India, South-west monsoon has set in over parts of south Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and most parts of Andaman Sea.

A depression in the Bay of Bengal was expected to pull the monsoonal flow towards the mainland and it may reach Kerala earlier than May 30. Malaysia’s natural rubber production increased 48.4% year-on-year in March, the Department of Statistics said on May 14. On a monthly basis, however, production decreased 13.2%. The smallholdings sector contributed 95% of the total production, while the rest came from the estate sector. In March, natural rubber exports surged 88.6% annually and a strong growth of 40.9% was recorded monthly.

China topped the list of main buyers of Malaysian rubber with a share of 34.9% in the total exported rubber. Reliance Industries Ltd proposes to set up a joint venture with Russian petrochemical firm SIBUR to make synthetic rubber in India.

In a media release issued jointly on Sunday, the companies said the proposed joint venture make butyl rubber at RIL's petrochemical facility at Jamnagar, Gujarat.

(commodityonline.com)





Rubber Board to hold meetings for rubber growers
Posted: 20 May 2010 05:30 PM PDT
KOTTAYAM (Commodity Online): The Rubber Board will hold an intensive mass contact programme so as to bring awareness among the rubber growers about the need of improving the quality of sheet rubber and to impart training in scientific sheet rubber processing.

In a statement issued on Thursday, 20 May 2010 the board informed that the meetings are scheduled to be held from 1 June to 16 July 2010. Four thousand meetings with a participation of one lakh growers will be arranged in the traditional rubber growing belt of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with the active involvement of the Rubber Producers’ Societies.

“The tyre industry- especially the truck/bus tyre sector- consumes the major portion of the natural rubber. The tyre sector is now switching over to production of radial tyres, which have relatively superior quality and better life than the cross ply (bias) tyres. Sheet rubber of the quality RSS 4 and above is essential for the production of radial tyres. This will make it difficult for the growers to fetch good price for low quality sheets in future. The growers should therefore be prepared to improve the quality of their sheet rubber,” the Board maintained in a statement.

In addition to the main theme of quality improvement of sheet rubber, topics like tappers bank, low frequency tapping, controlled upward tapping, mechanisation in rubber cultivation, necessity of replanting, mosquito control in rubber estates etc will also be discussed in the campaign meetings.