Spot rubber prices rule steady

Physical rubber prices finished unchanged on Friday. Most of the traders remained inactive as they preferred to wait and watch during the weekend session, possibly fearing to expand their commitments.

Sheet rubber closed unchanged at Rs 184 a kg amidst scattered transactions. The Rubber Board's rate for the grade was steady at Rs 183 a kg. The trend was mixed as ISNR-20 slipped on low demand.

In the international market, Tokyo rubber futures bounced back as the dollar recovered against yen and a rise in NYMEX crude oil futures encouraged traders to cover their positions. The domestic futures saw an overall rise in prices with its September series hitting a high of Rs 175 and low of Rs 173.36 a kg on the National Multi Commodity Exchange.

Futures up

The August series improved to Rs 183.50 (182.89), September to Rs 173.89 (173.31), October to Rs 164.45 (164.19) and November to Rs 161.51 (161.16) a kg for RSS 4. The volumes totalled 3582 lots. The total open interest in all series was 4093 lots and turnover 62.37 crores.

RSS 3 firmed with the August futures rising to ¥330/Rs 180.13 (¥323.5) during the day session but slipped to ¥328.2 (Rs 179.15) a kg during the night session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

Spot rates were: RSS-4: 184 (184); RSS-5: 174 (174); ungraded: 164.50 (164.50); ISNR 20: 156 (156) and latex 60 per cent: 110 (110).




Malaysian Natural Rubber Production Rises In June
Posted: 13 Aug 2010 12:11 AM PDT
RTTNews) - Malaysian natural rubber production rose 8.4% in June from May to 70,745 tonnes, data from the Department of Statistics showed Friday. Meanwhile, production recorded an annual 12.3% fall. The main portion of production was contributed by the small holding sector with 93.6%, while the estate sector accounted for remaining 6.4%.

Export of natural rubber totaled 71,339 tonnes, up by 11.1% from May. Annually, exports increased strongly by 23.7%. Standard Malaysian Rubber continued to be the main contributor to exports. Some of the major destinations of natural rubber were China, Germany, Republic of Korea, U.S.A., and Brazil.

On the other hand, import of natural rubber dropped 0.2% month-on-month and 35.2% annually. Malaysia imported natural rubber mainly from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia. Total imports from these five nations accounted for 91.7% of total imports.

Domestic consumption of natural rubber in June was 35,977 tonnes. Consumption was down 11.4% from May and dipped 10.9% from June 2009.

(dailymarkets.com)





Rubber Rallies for First Time in Five Days on Crude Oil Gain, Yen Decline
Posted: 13 Aug 2010 12:07 AM PDT
Rubber climbed for the first time in five days, trimming this week’s loss, as crude oil rallied and the yen dropped, boosting the appeal of the commodity used to make tires.

January-delivery rubber in Tokyo gained as much as 2.1 percent to 281.9 yen a kilogram ($3,277 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and traded at 278.6 yen at 11:59 a.m. local time. The contract has lost 1.3 percent this week, the first weekly drop in four.

“It’s a technical rebound backed by a weaker yen and a rally in oil prices,” Shuji Sugata, research manager at Mitsubishi Corp. Futures Ltd. in Tokyo, said today by phone. “Lower stockpiles have also lent support to the market.”

Crude oil rallied from a one-month low and traded at $76.35 a barrel in New York after falling as U.S. applications for unemployment benefits rose. Initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 2,000 to 484,000 last week, the highest level since February. Lower oil prices make natural rubber less attractive than rival synthetic products made from petroleum.

The yen fell for a second day after comments by Japanese officials stoked speculation they’ll act to curb the currency’s gains to protect the nation’s economic recovery. A stronger Japanese currency reduces the appetite for yen-based contracts.

The yen slipped to 86.12 per dollar at 11:47 a.m. in Tokyo from 85.90 in New York yesterday. It reached 84.73 on Aug. 11, the strongest since July 1995.

Natural rubber stockpiles in Japan expanded to 3,275 tons as of July 31 from a record low of 2,628 tons on July 20, according to data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan.

“Even though stockpiles increased at the end of last month, it is still considered very low,” Sugata said. Inventories were at 7,288 tons at the end of January.

Natural rubber prices are likely to remain near current levels at $3 a kilogram for the next two months because of tight supply and increasing demand, according to the International Rubber Consortium Ltd.

January-delivery rubber in Shanghai rose 0.6 percent to 24,610 yuan ($3,625 a ton), the first gain in three days.

(bloomberg.com)





Natural Rubber Production Up 8.4 Per Cent In June 2010
Posted: 13 Aug 2010 12:05 AM PDT
KUALA LUMPUR, August 13 (Bernama) -- Natural rubber production rose by 5,491 tonnes or 8.4 per cent to 70,745 tonnes in June this year compared to the previous month.

Production, however, dropped by 9,954 tonnes from 80,699 tonnes on a year-on-year basis, said the Statistics Department in a statement Friday.

The main portion of natural rubber production was contributed by the smallholding sector with 93.6 per cent while the estate sector accounted for only 6.4 per cent, it said.

Natural rubber exports in June 2010 increased by 11.1 per cent when compared to the previous month while exports on a year-on-year basis rose strongly by 23.7 per cent, the department said.

Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) continued to be the main contributor to exports and recorded a total of 68,051 tonnes, of which 49.7 per cent was SMR20, it said.

Major destinations for Malaysia's natural rubber were China with 40.4 per cent, Germany with 13.5 per cent and South Korea with 5.8 per cent.

Malaysia imported 49,679 tonnes of natural rubber whereby latex concentrate accounted for 53.2 per cent of total imports.

The imported natural rubber came mainly from Thailand with 70.5 per cent, Vietnam with 10.2 per cent and Myanmar with 5.1 per cent.

Natural rubber stocks declined by 3,550 tonnes or 2.9 per cent to 117,226 tonnes when compared to the previous month while year-on-year comparison showed that the level of stocks decreased by 8.5 per cent.

Domestic consumption for natural rubber was at 35,977 tonnes, down by 11.4 per cent when compared to the previous month and a drop of 10.9 per cent in a while year-on-year comparison.

The main natural rubber consuming industry was rubber gloves at 70.3 per cent, followed by rubber thread at eight per cent as well as tyres and tubes at 7.9 per cent, the department said.

These three industries consumed 30,995 tonnes or 86.2 per cent of the total domestic consumption of natural rubber, it added.

(bernama.com)





Decline in spot rubber prices
Posted: 13 Aug 2010 12:04 AM PDT
On Thursday (12 August 2010), the spot rubber prices declined following the decline in the domestic futures and on new of imports. Sheet rubber declined to Rs 184 from Rs 185 per kg on buyer resistance coupled with selling by dealers.

The August futures for RSS 4 declined to Rs 183.4175 (186.89) and September to Rs 173.11 (173.21), while the October futures increased marginally to Rs 163.90 (163.75) and November to Rs 161.05 (161) per kg on the National Multi Commodity Exchange.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 184 (185); RSS-5: 174 (175); ungraded: 164.50 (165); ISNR 20: 156 (157) and latex 60 per cent: 110 (110).

(indiainfoline.com)