By Rahul Dhuri
MUMBAI – Futures contracts of rubber on the Indian Commodity Exchange fell today because of fresh selling after prices hit a six-month high of 13,037 rupees per 100 kg on Friday.
On ICEX, the most-active March contract settled at 12,820 rupees per 100 kg, down 1.6% from Friday. A rise in open interest of 11 tn at 615 tn in the contract indicated fresh selling.
However, early gains in benchmark contracts on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange prevented a sharp fall in domestic contracts. Rubber contracts on TOCOM hit an over one-year high of 202.8 yen (130.08 rupees) per kg today as the world’s top rubber producers plan to cut supply to limit the fall in prices, analysts said.
At a meeting of the International Tripartite Rubber Council on Friday, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to curb exports by 300,000 tn to boost global prices. The three countries account for around 70% of the world’s natural rubber production.
However, the most active July contract of rubber on the Japanese bourse settled down 1.4% at 198.5 yen per kg, due to profit booking by market participants after prices hit an over one-year high in the early trade today.
In Thailand, RSS-3 grade rubber was up $2.73 at $168.0 per 100 kg. In Malaysia, the SMR-20 grade rubber was up 90 cents at $143.70 per 100 kg, according to data from India’s Rubber Board.
Prices of rubber in the spot markets of Kerala were largely unchanged today as demand from domestic stockists and tyre manufacturers was negligible amid limited arrivals, traders said.
Demand from tyre companies for the domestic stock is subdued as these entities have already imported sufficient quantity of rubber. Prices of the RSS-4 variety of the commodity in both Kottayam and Kochi were steady at 125-127 rupees per kg, traders said.
However, data from India’s Rubber Board showed that the RSS-4 variety in Kochi and Kottayam was quoted at 126.5 rupees a kg, up 1 rupee in both markets.
Today’s closing prices of rubber, in rupees per kg in Kochi and Kottayam, 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 | 126.50 | 1.00 | 126.50 | 1.00 |
| RSS-5 | 121.50 | 1.00 | 121.50 | 1.00 |
| ISNR-20 | 119.50 | 1.50 | NA | NA |
| Latex | 83.50 | 0.55 | NA | NA |
OUTLOOK
In the coming days, prices of natural rubber in the key spot markets of Kerala are likely to extend gains owing to improved demand from domestic stockists, and an ongoing supply crunch, traders said.
Gains in the global market are also seen supporting prices in the domestic market, they said. End
US$1 = 70.98 rupees
Edited by Aditya Sakorkar
