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By Rahul Dhuri
MUMBAI – The December contract of rubber on Indian Commodity Exchange hit a one-week high of 12,348 rupees per 100 kg, tailing key spot markets in Kerala, traders said.
The December contract on the bourse settled at 12,348 rupees per 100 kg, up 2.1% from Friday.
Prices of natural rubber rose in the key markets of Kerala due to bargain buying by markets participants after a recent fall in prices, said Joy Alencherry, the owner of Maria Rubber Links based in Kottayam.
In Kochi, the price of the widely-traded RSS-4 variety was in the range of 118-119 rupees per kg, up 1-2 rupee from Friday, traders said.
According, to data from Rubber Board of India the RSS-4 variety in Kochi and Kottayam was sold at 119.50 rupees per kg, up 0.50 rupee from the previous close.
However, fall in benchmark contracts of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange capped gains in domestic prices, traders said.
Futures contracts of rubber on TOCOM hit a two-week low of 159.7 yen (101.68 rupees) per kg today as the yen strengthened against the dollar. Weakness in crude oil prices on New York Mercantile Exchange also weighed on prices, analysts said.
A firm Japanese currency makes yen-denominated rubber costlier for overseas buyers.
The most-active May contract of rubber on the Japanese bourse ended 1.8% lower at 161.5 yen per kg.
Prices of rubber take cues from crude oil as it is used to produce synthetic rubber, a substitute for natural rubber.
Rise in inventory of rubber at warehouses in Shanghai Futures Exchange further contributed to the fall. As of Friday, stock of rubber at Shanghai warehouses were at 311,550 tn compared with 303,310 tn on Thursday.
In Malaysia, the SMR-20 grade was down $1.54 at $123.66 per 100 kg, according to the Rubber 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 | 119.50 | 0.50 | 119.50 | 0.50 |
| RSS-5 | 115.50 | 0.50 | 115.50 | 0.50 |
| ISNR-20 | 110.00 | 0.50 | NA | NA |
| Latex | 84.55 | 1.05 | NA | NA |
OUTLOOK
The uptick in rubber prices are unlikely to sustain in the coming days tracking fall in benchmark contracts on TOCOM, and due to a rise in imports of the commodity, traders said. End
US$1 = 71.34 rupees
Edited by Maheswaran Parameswaran
