The Malaysian rubber market is expected to be steady next week with active trading and strong regional demand, dealers said.
They said demand would be spurred by a weaker yen and news of better economic data from China.
On the local front, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said global demand for natural rubber is expected to rise by 3.4 per cent to 11.3 million tonnes (MT) this year and by 4.9 per cent to 11.84 MT in 2013.
For the first eight months of this year, exports of rubber products for the country rose by 14.8 per cent to RM13.4 billion worth from RM11.68 billion in the same period of 2011.
The major export destinations were China, US, Germany, Japan and Thailand which constituted 60 per cent of the exports.
The market ended on a higher note on Thursday, with prices finishing better than on Wednesday in tandem with the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and the Singapore Exchange.
It was closed on Friday for the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebration.
On a week-to-week basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 fell 21.5 sen to 869 sen per kg, while latex-in-bulk eased 24.5 sen to 595.5 sen per kg.
The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 however added 4.5 sen to 876.5 sen per kg but latex-in-bulk dropped 18.5 sen to 597 sen per kg.
BERNAMA
