By Rahul Dhuri
MUMBAI – Rubber futures on Indian Commodity Exchange settled higher due to bargain buying by market participants after prices hit an over one-week low of 11,992 rupees per 100 kg, on Thursday, traders said.
The December contract on the bourse settled at 12,199 rupees per 100 kg, up 1% from Thursday. A 44-tn rise in open interest in the contract to 226 tn indicated bargain buying.
However, the overall sentiment in the rubber market remains bearish tracking weakness in the benchmark contracts on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and fall in prices of natural rubber in the spot markets of Kerala. traders said.
On TOCOM, rubber futures fell today tracking weakness in prices in the benchmark contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange, analysts said. The most-active May contract on the Japanese bourse ended down 1.2 yen at 163.2 yen (102.40 rupees) per kg.
Rise in stocks at exchange-accredited warehouses of Shanghai weighed on the prices. As of Thursday, stock of rubber at Shanghai warehouses were at 303,310 tn compared with 297,810 tn on Wednesday.
Weakness in crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange further contributed to the fall. Prices of rubber take cues from those of crude oil as the latter is used to manufacture synthetic rubber, a substitute for natural rubber.
In Thailand, the RSS-3 grade rubber was up 35 cents at $137.22 per 100 kg and in Malaysia, the SMR-20 grade was up 29 cents at $125.2 per 100 kg, according to the Rubber Board.
Meanwhile, rubber prices were down in the key spot markets of Kerala, owing to subdued demand from domestic stockists and tyre manufacturers, said Kurian Abraham, a rubber trader.
In Kochi, the price of the widely-traded RSS-4 variety was at 117.00 rupees per kg, down 1 rupee from Thursday, traders said.
However, data from Rubber Board of India showed that the RSS-4 variety in Kochi was sold at 118.50 rupees per kg, down 0.50 rupee from the previous close. In Kottayam, it was unchanged at 119.0 rupees per kg.
Today’s closing prices of rubber, in rupees per kg, at Kottayam and Kochi, 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 | 119.00 | Unch | 118.50 | (-) 0.50 |
| RSS-5 | 115.00 | (-) 0.50 | 115.00 | (-)0.50 |
| ISNR-20 | 109.50 | Unch | NA | NA |
| Latex | 83.50 | Unch | NA | NA |
OUTLOOK
The bearishness in rubber market is likely to continue for the coming days tailing weakness in the benchmark contracts on TOCOM and due to subdued demand from domestic stockists, traders said.
Prices of natural rubber in key spot markets of Kerala are likely to fall by 2-3 rupees from current levels, they said. End
US$1 = 70.80 rupees
Edited by Maheswaran Parameswaran
