By Kavita Desai
MUMBAI – Rubber futures on the Indian Commodity Exchange ended lower today tracking the fall in spot prices due to sluggish demand and rise in imports, dealers said.
“Limited purchases from tyre companies amid higher imports from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia weighed on the market sentiment,” said K. Sudhakaran a proprietor of Palakkad-based S. K. Rubbers.
In the spot markets of Kerala, the widely-traded RSS-4 variety of rubber was sold at 119-120 rupees per kg today, down 1-2 rupees, he said.
The December rubber contract ended at 12,220 rupees per 100 kg, down 60 rupees from Wednesday.
Domestic rubber prices also declined tracking the weakness in the benchmark contract of rubber on Shanghai Futures Exchange.
However, gains in rubber futures on Tokyo Commodity Exchange limited the downside. Today, the most-active April contract of rubber on the Japanese bourse was up 0.4% at 158.6 yen (100.65 rupees) per kg.
According to a data from the Rubber Board of India, the RSS-4 variety was sold at 121.00 rupees per kg in both Kochi and Kottayam, down 50 paise from Wednesday.
In Thailand, the RSS-3 grade rubber was up 35 cents at $135.18 per 100 kg and in Malaysia, the SMR-20 grade was up 5 cents at $123.95 per 100 kg, according to the Board.
Today’s closing prices of rubber, in rupees per kg, at Kottayam and Kochi, as detailed by the Rubber Board, and the change in prices, in rupees, compared with the previous close are given in the following table:
| KOTTAYAM | KOCHI | |||
| GRADE | PRICE | CHANGE | PRICE | CHANGE |
| RSS-4 | 121.00 | (-) 0.50 | 121.00 | (-) 0.50 |
| RSS-5 | 116.00 | (-) 0.50 | 116.00 | (-) 0.50 |
| ISNR-20 | 110.00 | (-)1.00 | NA | NA |
| Latex | 82.40 | Unch | NA | NA |
OUTLOOK
Prices of natural rubber in the key spot markets of Kerala are expected to trade lower due to sluggish demand from tyre companies and bearish outlook for rubber in the global market. End
US$1 = 71.98 rupees
Edited by Maheswaran Parameswaran
