KUALA LUMPUR — Concerns over regional supply due to forest fires in Indonesia could boost positive sentiment in the Malaysian rubber market next week, a dealer said.
“There will be a correction in the prices, and the prices next week will be heavily influenced by the on-going forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan as these two locations are known as major rubber plantation areas,” he said when contacted here.
Although the current scenario predicts lower rubber production, this would help lift positive sentiment in the market, especially when the commodity’s prices are relatively low, he added.
He also noted that the demand for the commodity would increase as traders are worried of a supply shortage.
Regionally, rubber prices on the benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose on Friday, helped by bargain-hunting after a more than three per cent drop previously.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s sellers’ official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 rose 18.5 sen to 547 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk slipped three sen to 411.5 sen per kg.
The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 increased 23.5 sen to 546.5 sen per kg while latex-in-bulk was unchanged at 413 sen per kg.
