Spot rubber stays static

Spot rubber stays static

Kottayam, July 21

Spot rubber continued to rule unchanged on Wednesday. There were no quantity buyers or sellers in the market and the prices settled at previous day's closing levels amidst low volumes.

Sheet rubber finished flat at Rs 180 a kg but the grade seemed to be struggling to remain subdued possibly on supply concerns.

Futures gain

Rubber futures gained almost 2 per cent on the National Multi Commodity Exchange. The August series firmed up to Rs 179.40 (174.27), September to Rs 166.03 (162.34), October to Rs 160.71(158.17) and November to Rs 160.25 (158.00) a kg for RSS 4. The total volume has been 9112 lots and turnover 159.15 crores. The total open interest in all series was 5620. The July futures for RSS 3 improved to ¥352\Rs 190.84 (¥344.4) while the August futures weakened to ¥292.9 (¥293.9), September to ¥280.8 (¥283.3), October to ¥266.5 (¥270.4), November to ¥263.6 (¥266) and December to ¥263.5 (¥264.5) a kg during the day session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 180 (180); RSS-5: 175 (175); ungraded: 170 (170); ISNR 20: 159 (159) and latex 60 per cent: 125 (125).



Sri Lanka rubber goods producers to protest levy
Posted: 21 Jul 2010 02:32 AM PDT
July 21, 2010 (LBO) - Exporters of finished rubber goods from Sri Lanka wants the government to lift a levy on their exports amid high raw material prices that was affecting their competiveness, an industry official said.
The 'cess' of four rupees a kilogram that is charged on finished rubber goods is expected to be used to give subsidies to growers.
"At the moment profits of growers have increased because rubber prices have increased steeply," Ananda Caldera, a senior rubber industry executive and a past president of an association representing rubber manufacturers in the island said.

"The growers no longer need subsidies. But the taxes are making it difficult for us to compete in international markets. We are going to request the plantations industry ministry to lift this cess."

Caldera said makers of rubber tyres and other goods were finding that cost of production in Sri Lanka were higher than other countries due to the cess.

He said finished rubber goods producers could export 60 billion rupees a year.

He said the demand for tyres which had slumped amid a global economic downturn was now improving and raw rubber prices are likely to go up further.

Sri Lanka's central bank, which keeps a tight peg with the US dollar has appreciated the rupee again to around 113 rupees a US dollar in recent weeks. Meanwhile Sri Lanka is also expected to lose tax benefits for export to the EU region from August.

(lankabusinessonline.com)





Villagers lay curse on rubber plantation in Mondulkiri province
Posted: 21 Jul 2010 02:32 AM PDT
ETHNIC Phnong villagers held a traditional ceremony in Mondulkiri province’s Pechreada district yesterday to curse a rubber plantation they say has robbed them of large tracts of rotational farmland and spirit forests.

Khan Channy, a community representative, said villagers made offerings of pigs and jars of rice wine in order to curse Socfin KCD, a French-Cambodian rubber company, and make it “vanish like a dead pig”.

The company – a joint venture between French rubber giant Socfin and the Khaou Chuly Group – was granted its first 2,500-hectare rubber concession in late 2007 and began clearing in early 2008.

More than 800 families in seven villages in Bou Sraa commune – which is made up predominantly of Phnong villages – claim to have been affected by the rubber plantation, now expected to cover 10,000 hectares.

Kob Neith, another community representative, said the company had offered residents of her village three choices in exchange for vacating their land: to sell their land to the company for US$80 per hectare; to exchange the land for replacement plots elsewhere; and to harvest rubber in designated areas and then sell it back to the company.

She said that although a decision has not yet been made, around 100 tractors and bulldozers were clearing land at the plantation site.
Kob Neith said there had been no response to repeated petitions and requests from affected villagers.

Yesterday’s ceremony followed a similar one held in June last year.

“We want a shared 350-hectare area for the whole community to support our living. It was the last resort to organise the ceremony to curse the company to vanish after the community has failed in dealing with the company,” she said.

Kul Midy, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said a provincial committee met in late June to prepare for the registration of community land in Mondulkiri, but that Bou Sraa commune had not been on the agenda.

“The villagers have the right to hold a ritual to curse the company like this to express their feelings to the authorities so that the authorities may help solve their land dispute with the company,” he said.

Mondulkiri provincial governor Chan Yoeun declined to comment yesterday.

(phnompenhpost.com)