The Malaysian rubber market is likely to see steady trading next week on expectations of firm demand for the commodity, especially from China, a dealer said.
The dealer said China, the world’s largest consumer for rubber, is starting to stock up on its inventory ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday on Feb 10-11.
The dealer said the country’s better-than-expected economic growth rate for the fourth quarter 2012, could also lift regional market sentiment next week and help push demand higher.
China’s gross domestic product rose by 7.9 per cent in the quarter reviewed from a year earlier, the best increase since the economy gained 8.1 per cent in the first quarter, the government said on Friday.
For the full year, growth was at 7.8 per cent, its slowest gain since 1999. Back home, on a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical offer price for tyre-grade SMR 20 dropped 23.5 sen to 907.5 sen per kg, while latex-in-bulk fell six sen to 622 sen per kg.
The unofficial closing offer price for tyre-grade SMR 20 eased seven sen to 915 sen per kg and latex-in-bulk shed 3.5 sen to 624.5 sen per kg.
– BERNAMA
