Rubber farmers in Kerala set precedent in futures trade

Rubber farmers in Kerala set precedent in futures trade
Written by HMH | February 20, 2012






New Delhi: Rubber farmers in Kerala are teaming up to trade in futures on the commodity exchanges as awareness about derivative products spreads, in the process setting a precedent for farmers across India.

Ten of the 36 farmer cooperatives are now trading on mainly two exchanges, National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), to hedge and to speculate, and more farmers are poised to join the group.

“The education level of farmers is on the higher side and they have exposure to the world outside through information technology,” said Siby J. Monippally, general secretary of Indian Rubber Growers’ Association and a member of the Rubber Board.

Rubber farmers began trading in futures in 2003 when commodity exchanges launched the product, but the numbers have really grown in the last couple of years empowering the whole community, said Monippally, who also heads a cooperative with 5,000 rubber farmers trading in the futures exchanges.

NMCE, the most popular exchange for rubber trading, estimates a turnover ofRs. 30,131.99 crore in the current fiscal year, a 15-fold jump in three years.

“At my father’s time, rubber growers were at the mercy of the tyre manufacturers. Now that is no longer the case,” said Monippally.

India is the fourth largest producer of natural rubber with an 8% share of the global market. Kerala accounts for 78% of the area under rubber cultivation in India. In the current financial year ending 31 March, the state is expected to produce 917,000 tonnes of the commodity according to Monippally, up from 846,000 tonnes in the previous year.

Most of the estimated 900,000 rubber farmers in Kerala are small-scale producers of the commodity, which means they must team up to trade in future contracts, where one lot is equal to 1,000 kg.

“The average farmer produces anything between 1 and 5 tonnes of rubber a year. As a member of a cooperative, he pools in his rubber and trades it,” said K.K. Abraham, president of Pala Marketing Cooperative Society, representing 8,500 farmers on the exchange. “Most of them are happy they can sell their rubber even when it is inside the bark.” The popularity of rubber futures in India rose after a destructive tsunami hit Japan in March last year, pulling down rubber prices to Rs. 175 a kg from Rs. 200 a kg overnight on fears of reduced demand for tyres from Japanese auto makers. Farmers then sold futures contracts to hedge their risks.

“Earlier when futures fell, people blamed the speculators in the exchange. When it went up, they clapped,” said Achyuthankutty .P, managing director of Periyar Latex Ltd, a public company promoted by the Rubber Board, ministry of commerce and a self-help group called Rubber Producers’ Societies.

The fact that rubber growers could sell the RSS 4 (Ribbed-Smoked Sheets) contract on the NMCE to hedge their price risk, even as their rubber flowed from latex to finished stage, opened the eyes of farmers, said Achyuthankutty a senior official of the Rubber Board.

NMCE expects volume of 4.1 million lots of 1,000 kg each on the RSS 4 contract this year, a sixfold jump in three years.

Talks are on for starting newer contracts which could draw more users and deepen the market, Achyuthankutty said.

“I am trying to convince NMCE to bring Indian Standard Natural Rubber 20,” Achyuthankutty said. “They are keen on latex, but I feel there may be some difficulty in handling it and there could be quality issues.”

Farmers are collectively also leveraging new communication systems to trade effectively on the futures market.

In Muvattupuzha village in Ernakulam district of the state, for instance, a giant ticker provides real time rubber prices to the public.

“My cooperative is 56 years old. We are starting an initiative for revamping the operations,” said Monippally of Indian Rubber Growers’ Association. “All the cooperatives are profit making, some money can be spent in new communication systems.”

Monippally Marketing Co-operative Society made profit of Rs. 160-170 crore in the last financial year, Monippally said.





Market on Feb 20: Rubber moves up slightly on thin trading
February 20, 2012




KOTTAYAM, FEB. 20:

Selected grades firmed up marginally amidst scattered transactions, tracking the sharp gains in the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures. Most of the counters were inactive and the overall volumes were extremely poor.

Sheet rubber improved to Rs 184.50 (184) a kg, according to traders. And, according to the Rubber Board, the grade increased to Rs 185 (184) a kg both in Kottayam and Kochi .

The National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE) was closed owing to Mahashivratri.

RSS 3 (spot) firmed up to Rs 201.35 (199.32) a kg at Bangkok. Its February futures bounced back to ¥309 (Rs 190.91) from ¥ 300.1 a kg during the day session and then to ¥310 (Rs 191.79) in the night session on TOCOM.

The spot rubber rates (in rupees/kg) were: RSS-4: 184.50 (184.00); RSS-5: 181 (180); Un-graded: 177 (177); ISNR 20: 184.50 (184.50); and Latex 60%: 128.50 (128.50).






Dull demand keeps rubber prices low
February 20, 2012



KOCHI: The gap between Indian and international rubber prices is widening due to a subdued local demand. Indian prices are flat as poor tyre and car sales dampen demand for rubber. Global prices are rising because the Thailand government has decided to build up reserves.

Tyre makers had stepped up imports in the last few months to take advantage of low international prices. However, the situation changed after the Thailand government initiated a move in the last week of January to buy 2 lakh tonne to arrest the slide.

Though the market intervention price scheme is yet to come into effect, global rubber prices have been looking up since then.

Global prices have been hovering around Rs 200 per kg. The Indian rubber prices are at around Rs 185 per kg since there has been no pickup in demand.

“Whatever had come into market was the stock held by dealers. Growers are reluctant to release the stock at the current price and only some of it has hit the market,” said a prominent rubber dealer.

“Tyre demand was not to our expectations in January and we have build adequate inventory through imports to last over a month,” said Vijay Gambhire, senior vice president, (materials), Ceat. Apart from import against export, the company is not pushing for more imports now as the price situation has become unfavourable.

Tapping is expected to slow down further as summer advances. It has already come down, squeezing production. But the absence of demand will keep prices flat, according to traders.






Rubber prices may gain as Indonesia production falls on heavy rains
February 21, 2012




JAKARTA (Commodity Online): Rubber prices could gain as heavy rains in Indonesia have curtailed production in the world’s second largest rubber producing nation.

The production fall has occurred amidst growing demand for rubber as the global economy emerges slowly from the financial crisis. This may raise the price of the commodity in the global market.

According to Rubber Association of Indonesia, the natural rubber production of Indonesia is expected to 3 million tons for 2012, a fall by 3.2% on heavy rains in the Sumatra and Kalimantan rubber-producing areas.

Indonesia accounts for around 29% of the global natural rubber supply.

Global natural rubber production is expected to be around 11.8 million tons in 2012 while consumption may touch 11.7 million tons.

Meanwhile, in India, natural rubber (NR) production in January has increased 3.7% to 102,500 tons, compared to 98,800 tons same month last year. Whereas, consumption during the month fell 2.4% to 82,000 tons.

According to Rubber Board, India’s total production in April-January increased 4.6% to 784,400 tons, while consumption rose just 1.3% to 799,980 tons during the period.

In Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), natural rubber for February delivery traded at 309.5 yen per Kg while in National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE), commodity traded at Rs 18,690 per ton on 21st February.






Tokyo futures edge higher, profit-taking caps gains (Feb 21)
February 21, 2012




BANGKOK, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures ended higher on Tuesday on the back of limited supply and firmness in oil prices, but gains were still capped by profit-taking after a recent rally to a 5-month high, dealers said.

The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange <0#JRU:> ended 1.6 yen higher to settle at 328.4 yen ($4.13)per kg.

On Monday, the TOCOM benchmark contract jumped 3 percent to a 5-month high of 328.1 yen per kg.

The most active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery rose 680 yuan to finish at 28,910 yuan ($4,600)per tonne.

The front-month March TSR20 rubber contract on SICOM was last traded at 373.50 U.S. cents a kg, down 0.20 cents.

“Rubber futures should rise much higher today as firmness in oil prices should provide support, but profit-taking still weighed on prices,” one dealer said.

Brent crude futures held steady near $120 a barrel on Tuesday as the euro zone approved a second bailout package for Greece, while a cut in Chinese and European imports of Iranian oil supported prices.

Dealers said TOCOM rubber could rise further on Wednesday after prices finished above a major support level of 320 yen, while limited supply on the fundamental front should lend an additional support.

($1 = 79.4700 Japanese yen)

($1 = 6.3017 Chinese yuan)





Crude oil trades near 9-month high after Greek deal, Iran fears
February 21, 2012



Forexpros – Crude oil futures were up on Tuesday, hovering just below the previous day’s nine-month high after European officials approved a much-needed EUR130 billion bailout package for Greece, while lingering fears over a disruption to Iranian oil exports continued to underpin prices.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD104.96 a barrel during European morning trade, gaining 1.25%.

The March contract is due to expire at the end of Tuesday’s trading session. Contract expiration often leads to volatile sessions as market participants look to close out positions or reposition their portfolios.

Meanwhile, the more actively traded contract for April delivery rallied 1.74% to trade at USD105.41 a barrel. On Monday prices spiked to USD105.80, the highest since May 5, 2011.

At a meeting that lasted into the early of hours of Tuesday, euro zone finance ministers agreed on a EUR130 billion deal slated to reduce Greece’s debt to 120.5% of gross domestic product by 2020.

Private-sector creditors also agreed to take a write-down on their bonds of 53.5%, more than the 50% write-down that had been conceded before the meeting, which is expected to cut Greece’s debt by EUR107 billion.

The decision will help Athens resolve its immediate payment needs and avert a sovereign debt default.

Euro zone developments have dominated trading in the oil market for the last several months, with prices broadly tracking investor sentiment toward the region’s ongoing debt crisis.

Meanwhile, prices continued to draw support from growing concerns over a disruption to Iranian oil exports.

A day after Tehran said it halted crude shipments to British and French companies, the head of Iran’s state oil company said if other European nations continued “hostile acts,” it would stop exporting oil to them as well

The pre-emptive sales embargo by Iran comes in response to tighter sanctions on the country after European Union states agreed in late January to stop importing Iranian crude from July 1.

Growing tensions between Iran and Israel also remain in focus. There are fears that an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing.

Iran is the world’s third largest oil exporter, after Saudi Arabia and Russia. The threat of a major supply disruption from the country has helped support oil prices in recent weeks.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for April delivery eased up 0.1% to trade at USD120.17 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD14.76.