KUALA LUMPUR — The rubber market is likely to trade cautiously next week on the back of the ringgit’s movement and the performance on regional rubber markets, said a dealer.
The market was expected to be cautious due to the expectation of rising global output by 5.7 per cent this year on the back of higher tapping activity in key producing countries such as Thailand.
On the local front, the Statistics Department said the natural rubber output in March declined 7.4 per cent to 79,966 tonnes but stocks at end-March was up 4.1 per cent to 256,692 tonnes.
For the week just-ended, trading was rangebound, tracking the ringgit’s movement against the US dollar.
The rubber market was closed on Wednesday for Wesak Day holiday.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon price for SMR 20 added 1.5 sen to 636.0 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk gained 4.0 sen to 620.0 sen a kg.
The 5 pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 rose 7.5 sen to 632.5 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk appreciated 11.5 sen to 624.5 sen a kg.
