According to the statistics released by Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), the demand volume for NR worldwide (including non-ANRPC countries) reached 7,486kt in the first 7 months of 2017, up 0.40% from the same period last year. The consumption volume was 6,838kt in the first 7 months. The supply shortage was 648kt. It was predicted that the NR supply shortage would drop to 517kt in August.
In the first 10 months, the NR consumption volume will reach 10,723kt, up 1.10% from the same period in 2016. The consumption volume in entire 2017 will be 12,833kt, up 1.20% from the 12,600kt in 2016.
Nguyen Ngoc Bich, Chairman of ANRPC, said that NR spot prices would not decrease because of the favorable short supply. The NR price rebounded gradually in the first 3 weeks of July, followed by the price recover of crude oil. The price spread between STR 20 and SMR 20 narrowed. However, the NR inventories increased in the futures market in the last week of July, and the NR prices were influenced. The NR prices slumped in the major spot markets in Thailand and Malaysia.
In order to promote the use of NR, Thai government encouraged all industries in Thailand to use NR. Some departments and government divisions were suggested to consume NR. After that, the NR consumption volume in Thailand increased from 362kt to 390kt, up 7.70%. Office of Thai Prime Minister announced that 9 government divisions would purchase NR for road construction and product manufacturing with a budget of 16,900,000 THB. It may stimulate the demand for NR in Thailand.
- Sci99.com
