Asian rubber markets settled mostly lower last week amid worries on rising rubber inventories in Japan and China. Meanwhile, a strengthening of yen against the dollar also weighed on rubber prices during the week.
IRCo’s DCP fell 13.69 US cents/kg to 282.38 US cents/kg on Friday, or 4.62% lower than its DCP at 296.07 US cents/kg on Monday. Meanwhile, Thai RSS-3 dropped to 292.50 US cent/kg on Friday from 306.52 US cents/kg on Monday or lost 14.02 US cents/kg or 4.57%. Thailand STR-20 also slipped to 278.30 US cents/kg on Friday, or down 13.10 US cents/kg, or 4.50% lower than its settlement price at 291.40 US cents/kg on Monday. In the meantime, Malaysia SMR20 as well as Indonesia SIR20 also experienced losses during the week. Indonesia SIR20 was down to 276.00 US cents/kg on Friday, or 15.00 US cents/kg or 5.15% lower than its settlement price at 291.00 US cents/kg on Monday. Similarly, Malaysia SMR20 also settled lower at 286.00 US cents/kg on Friday, or 13.00 US cents/kg or 4.35% lower than its settlement price on Monday at 299.00 US cents/kg.
The benchmark rubber contract for August delivery on TOCOM settled at 282.90 yen/kg on Friday, 18.20 US cents/kg or 6.04% lower than its settlement price at 301.10 yen/kg on Monday. In addition, the Shanghai Futures Commodity Exchange for September delivery also finished the week lower at 22,950.00 Yuan/ton, or 1,220.00 Yuan/ton or 5.05% lower than its settlement price at 24,170.00 Yuan/ton on Monday. Moreover, AFET RSS-3 for October delivery was also down to 87.90 THB/kg on Friday, or lost 5.10 THB/kg or 5.48% lower than its initial price at 93.00 THB/kg on Monday.
NR supply is expected a bit tight in the coming week as some of rubber production regions in southern Indonesia are expected to experience inclement weather, meanwhile, in the Northern Hemisphere of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, rubber plantation areas are entering the wintering season. However, it is reported the winter is mild and the reduction on NR production is not so severe.
Source: IRCo
