KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is expected to trade cautiously this week as traders digest the new incentives announced in the 2016 budget to support rubber smallholders income and increase production. The move included improving the Rubber Production Incentive which is expected to raise the income of 300,000 rubber smallholders. “We hope the recent meeting of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries in Cambodia would provide a clear direction over the recent announcement by the Thai government to end price subsidy. “We expect a collective decision to ensure our smallholders’ interest,” he told Bernama.
On Wednesday, the Thai government said price subsidy for rubber will be halted and that 180,000 tonnes of rubber would be released from the stockpile if prices are reasonable. On a weekly basis, the local market was traded mostly mixed with the Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon price for tyre-grade SMR 20 up 2.5 sen to 527 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk eased nine sen to 399 sen a kg. The 5pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 fell half-a-sen to 524 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk slipped nine sen to end the week at 398 sen a kg.
