Kottayam, July 1
Spot rubber prices improved on Thursday. The market seemed to be gaining strength to narrow down the gap between the near month July series on the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE) though the global markets were bearish.
Sheet rubber improved to Rs 182.50 from Rs 179.75 a kg on fresh buying and short covering.
The market made all-round gains and according to an observer, speculators were leading the bull run while the market lacked genuine buyers from major consuming industries.
Futures weak
RSS 4 weakened with the July series dropping to Rs 183.75 (184.58), August to Rs 174.13 (176.64), September to Rs 166.54 (169.11) and October to Rs 162.60 (164.47) a kg on the NMCE. RSS 3 declined with the July futures slipping to ¥339\Rs 178.70 (¥343), August to ¥311.7 (¥315.7), September to ¥294.5 (¥299.8), October to ¥273.1 (¥279.1), November to ¥266.1 (¥270.9) and December to ¥264.7(¥269.2) a kg for RSS 3 during the day session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. The July futures recovered partially to ¥341.2 (Rs 179.88), August to ¥314.2, September to ¥296, October to ¥275.1, November to ¥267.1 and December to ¥265.1 a kg on late trades. RSS 3 (spot) surrendered to Rs 163.91 (166.26) a kg at Bangkok.
Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 182.50 (179.75); RSS-5: 178 (177); ungraded: 176 (174.50); ISNR 20: 160 (158) and latex 60 per cent: 127 (127).
Vehicle sales shift to lower gear in June
Our Bureau
Mumbai, July 1
After the high of May, automobile sales dipped in June although they grew year-on-year. The industry attributed this to the monsoon, routine shut-down for plant maintenance and component supply constraints.
However, the industry is confident of doing well in July given that the market sentiment continues to be good.
The sales performance in June was also reflected in the stock market with the share prices of most of the automobile companies falling on a day when the BSE Sensex too fell 191.57 points.
Maruti Suzuki's shares were down 1.70 per cent, Tata Motors' 1.98 per cent, Mahindra and Mahindra's 1.51 per cent, Hero Honda's 1.18 per cent and TVS Motor Company's 0.80 per cent. Bajaj Auto's shares were up 0.53 per cent and Ashok Leyland's down by 1.80 per cent; neither of these companies announced the monthly sales figures today.
Maruti Suzuki's sales dropped 12 per cent to 88,091 units in June from the peak of one lakh plus sales in May. However, on a year-on-year basis, Maruti's sales grew 17 per cent from 75,109 units in June 2009.
Similarly, the second largest carmaker Hyundai Motor India's total sales dropped mainly because of a 22 per cent fall in exports. The utility vehicle major Mahindra & Mahindra's sales too dipped marginally.
“We had a plant shutdown for maintenance for five days. This had affected production and sales. The market sentiment is good and July sales will be better. However, we are concerned about fuel price hike and inflation,” said Mr Mayank Pareek, Managing Executive Officer, Sales and Marketing, Maruti Suzuki.
Maruti's year-on-year growth is mainly on account of a 15 per cent growth in exports (15,279 units), a 43 per cent growth in the Omni, the Versa, and the Eeco category (9,914), a 33 per cent jump in sedan sales (8,081) and a five-fold increase in MUV sales at 1,309 units.
Maruti's key portfolio of compact cars that includes the Alto, the Wagon-R, the Estilo, the Swift, the Ritz and the A-Star grew 11 per cent to 51,418 units in June. Hyundai Motors India's total sales declined marginally to 46,254 units. For Hyundai, domestic sales grew 19 per cent to 27,366 units while exports dropped 22 per cent to 24,250 units.
Hyundai exports drop
“The domestic market continues to show a steady growth but exports have slowed down especially in the EU countries in the absence of any fresh incentives from the governments there,” Mr Arvind Saxena, Director - Marketing and Sales, Hyundai Motor India, said.
Unlike its peers, Tata Motors, the third largest carmaker in the country, showed impressive growth in June, thanks to Nano sales and a two-fold increase in Indigo sales. The company sold 7,704 units of Nano in June while the Indigo range clocked 7,502 units.
Tata Motors, in fact, pipped Hyundai in domestic passenger car sales by a few hundred units. The company sold 6,485 cars more in June when compared to the May sales at 21,326 units.
At 17,010 units, top utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra sold 643 fewer units than what it sold the same month a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, the sales slid substantially from close to 19,000 units in May.
“We had a plant shut down for maintenance and worked for 23 days only. We face supply constraints of components. Besides this, generally there is a dip in sales in June. The challenge is to ramp up component supply,” said Mr Arun Malhotra, Vice-President, Mahindra & Mahindra.
“However, there is a good demand in the market. We don't have plant stock while dealer stock is low. July sales will be better,” he said.
General Motor India's sales more than doubled to 9,539 units on the back of sustained demand for Chevrolet Beat which clocked 3,415 units. For Ford, sales grew almost four times to 7,269 units from 1,982 units in June 2009, thanks to the growing popularity of small car Figo.
Sales of Honda Siel India and Fiat India dipped in June while Skoda's improved.
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