By Rahul Dhuri
MUMBAI – The most active March contract of rubber on the Indian Commodity Exchange hit a one-week low of 12,640 rupees per 100 kg, tracking the benchmark contracts on Tokyo Commodity Exchange, traders said. The March contract on ICEX settled at 12,722 rupees per 100 kg, down 0.8% from Monday.
Rubber futures on TOCOM traded 1% lower today as investors booked profits after the August contract hit an over one-year high of 204.8 yen (131.19 rupees) per kg on Monday, and as the yen strengthened against the dollar, analysts said.
Weakness in rubber contracts on Shanghai Futures Exchange and a fall in crude oil prices on New York Mercantile Exchange also contributed to the downside. Rubber prices take cues from crude oil, as the latter is used to produce synthetic rubber, a substitute for natural rubber.
The most-active August contract of rubber on the Japanese bourse settled down 0.2% at 198.8 yen per kg.
In Thailand, RSS-3 grade rubber was down $1.10 at $166.90 per 100 kg. However, in Malaysia, the SMR-20 grade rubber was up $2.14 at $145.80 per 100 kg, according to data from India’s Rubber Board.
Back home, prices of rubber rose today in spot markets of Kerala due to a supply crunch and rising demand from stockists, traders said.
“The tapping season in Kerala has come to an end and arrivals are negligible,” said C.J. Augustine, owner of Idukki-based Chettiparambil Traders.
In Kottayam and Kochi, the RSS-4 variety was sold in the range of 126-127 rupees per kg, up 1 rupee from Monday, 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, unchanged 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 | Unch | 126.50 | Unch |
| RSS-5 | 122.00 | 0.50 | 122.00 | 0.50 |
| ISNR-20 | 120.00 | 0.50 | NA | NA |
| Latex | 83.50 | Unch | NA | NA |
OUTLOOK
Rubber futures on the ICEX are likely to recover slighty in the week ahead as the world’s top rubber producers plan to cut supply to curtail the fall in prices, analysts said. End
US$1 = 71.06 rupees
Edited by Maheswaran Parameswaran
