Asian rubber markets settled mostly higher last week amid a weakening Japanese yen against the dollar, and a positive US payroll report in December 2012. Meanwhile, China showed an increase in its natural rubber import of 3.67% on the period of January-November 2012 compared with its import in the same period in 2011 that likely resolved bearish market sentiment and supported market prices.
IRCo’s DCP stayed at 320.89 US cents/kg on Friday, or 3.30 US cents/kg (1.04%) higher than its initial price at 317.59 US cents/kg on Wednesday (markets closed on Monday 31 December 2012 to Tuesday 1 January 2013 due to the public holidays). Similarly, Thai RSS-3 also rose to 335.79 US cent/kg on Friday from 325.77 US cents/kg on Wednesday, or gained 10.02 US cents/kg (3.08 % higher). Meanwhile, Thailand STR-20 also rose to 308.89 US cents/kg on Friday, or up 7.42 US cents/kg, or 2.46% higher than its settlement price at 301.47 US cents/kg on Wednesday.
Likewise, Malaysia SMR20 also rose a bit to 313.00 US cents/kg on Friday from 312.00 US cents/kg on Wednesday, or up 0.32%. On the contrary, Indonesia SIR20 settled 2.00 US cents/kg lower at 304.00 US cents/kg on Friday, or lost 0.65% compared with its settlement price at 306.00 US cents/kg on Wednesday.
The benchmark rubber contract for June delivery on TOCOM settled at 307.80 yen/kg on Friday, and there were no transactions during the week due to long public holiday. The Shanghai Futures Commodity Exchange for May delivery also closed higher at 26,510.00 Yuan/ton, or 95.00 Yuan/ton (0.36%) higher than its settlement price at 26,415.00 Yuan/ton on Monday. On the other hand, AFET RSS-3 for August delivery decreased slightly from 111.50 THB/kg on Wednesday to 110.70 THB/kg on Friday, or lost 0.80 THB/kg (0.72% lower).
NR supply is expected to remain tight in the coming weeks as main rubber production regions in Indonesia are disrupted by the rainy season as well as rubber main plantation areas in southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.
Source: IRCo
