KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian rubber market is likely to trend higher next week, bolstered by the weakening ringgit to the US dollar, said dealers. A dealer said the lower ringgit made the commodity more attractive to foreign buyers, and hence demand for the commodity. He also said continuous rain over the past few days had also raised concerns over rubber production. For the week-just-ended, the local market traded in a quiet but steady tone at the beginning, but SMR 20 surged to 807 sen on Thursday, its highest level since September 2013.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon price for tyre-grade SMR 20 jumped 34.5 sen to 768 sen a kg, and latex-in-bulk added 31 sen to 578 sen a kg. The 5 pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 improved 25 sen to 768 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk rose 31 sen to 579 sen a kg.
