The Malaysian rubber market is expected to rebound next week in tandem with the strengthening of rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), said a dealer.
She said the rubber prices were also likely to track the movement on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which was expected to be steady.
“The top three rubber producers — Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, which are grouped under the International Rubber Consortium, are also expected to have a meeting this weekend to draft measures and joint actions to support prices.
“This has somewhat brought about positive sentiment in the market,” she told Bernama.
For the week just-ended, prices were easier due to lingering worries over slowing demand from China, the world’s largest importer, and fears of slowing growth in the United States, the world’s largest economy, following disappointing economic data.
However, the prices slightly rebounded towards the end of the week.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell 30 sen to 609 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk decreased four sen to 453 sen a kg.
The unofficial closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 stood at 611 sen a kg while latex-in-bulk was quoted at 455 sen a kg.
There was no comparative unofficial closing price as the market only traded for half-a-day on Thursday, the eve of Chinese New Year.– Bernama
