Rubber Market Expected To See Better Prices Next Week

Rubber Market Expected To See Better Prices Next Week
January 7, 2012





KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) — The Malaysian rubber market is expected to see a better performance next week in anticipation of limited supply in the commodity, dealers said.

A dealer said the wet weather in rubber producing countries, particularly in Southern Thailand, would cause a shortage in the raw material and this would boost prices.

He expects to see some buying activities in the local market before the Chinese New Year.

Another dealer said higher oil prices might see the return of traders in the market soon.

On a week-to-week basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell 9.5 sen to 1,014 sen per kg on Friday from 1,023.50 sen per kg registered the previous Friday.

Latex-in-bulk meanwhile lost eight sen to 637 sen per kg from 645 sen per kg the previous Friday.

The unofficial closing price for SMR 20 slipped 1.5 sen to 1,014.50 sen a kg on Friday from 1,016 sen a kg a week before while latex-in-bulk decreased four sen to 637 sen a kg from 641 sen a kg previously.

– BERNAMA





Market on Jan 6: Buyer resistance saps spot rubber
January 7, 2012





KOTTAYAM, JAN. 6:

Physical rubber prices declined further on Friday. The market fell on buyer resistance though there has been no visible selling pressure on any grade from major dealers or growers. The transactions were on a low key, while the trend was partially mixed.

Sheet rubber closed weak at Rs 190 (192.50) a kg, according to traders. The grade declined to Rs 191.50 (194.50) a kg both at Kottayam and Kochi, according to the Rubber Board.

The January series slipped to Rs 192.61 (193.63), February to Rs 195.77 (196.43), March to Rs 199.90 (201.22), April to Rs 205.40 (206.00), May to Rs 209.40 (210.11) and June to Rs 207.55 (208.10) a kg for RSS 4 on the National Multi Commodity Exchange.

RSS 3 (spot) dropped to Rs 176.45 (177.68) a kg at Bangkok. The January futures for the grade increased to ¥252 (Rs 172.51) from ¥250 a kg during the day session but then remained inactive in the night session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 190 (192.50); RSS-5: 185 (187); ungraded: 180 (180); ISNR 20: 185 (186) and latex 60 per cent: 107 (108).







Tyre units seek duty-free import of rubber
January 7, 2012





Growers and traders expect natural rubber prices to hold firm in the first-half of 2012. Automotive tyre-manufacturers and other rubber-based industries fear that the gap between production and consumption would widen further in the New Year.

There is also growing concern about the near-stagnation in production in recent years.

“We expect prices to hold firm in the initial months of 2012,” said K. K. Abraham, President of Pala Rubber Marketing Cooperative.

For the tyre industry, however, the New Year “has begun on a challenging note,” said Neeraj Kanwar, Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association. He told The Hindu that the gap between domestic production and consumption was likely to widen as efforts to import natural rubber proved expensive on account of the depreciation in rupee value.

The President of All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA), Vinod Simon, said that the economic slowdown and a flood of imported rubber products hit the domestic rubber industry while short supplies and high prices of natural rubber (NR) affected the rubber-based units, especially those in the small and tiny sectors.

Import duty

He hoped that the government would bring down the import duty on latex (now 70 per cent) to the level of natural rubber and raise import duty on finished rubber products.

N. Radhakrishnan, President of Cochin Rubber Merchants’ Association, felt that a correction in NR price was possible after July because of the continuing recession.

Rubber Production Commissioner J. Thomas said that production had been affected by lack of drive among growers to replant owing to prevailing high prices. At least 10 per cent of the trees should be in the juvenile stage normally. It was not the case now, he said. The anticipated production during the current financial year is just over 9 lakh tonnes and consumption is expected to be 9.77 lakh tonnes, leaving a supply gap of over 70,000 tonnes.

The tyre industry, which has lined up large-scale investments in the truck and bus radial segments, expects NR demand to go up. It has reiterated its demand for duty-free imports as a short-term measure.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/article2781015.ece