By Rahul Dhuri
MUMBAI – The most active March contract of rubber hit a one-month high of 12,649 rupees per 100 kg on the Indian Commodity Exchange, tracking benchmark contracts on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, traders said. On the ICEX, the March contract settled at 12,621 rupees per 100 kg, up 0.7% from Friday.
The July contract of rubber on the TOCOM hit a three-week high of 186.3 yen (120.26 rupees) per kg today, in line with gains in crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on hope the US and China may agree on a deal, analysts said. A weak yen against the dollar also supported prices.
The most active July contract on the Japanese bourse ended at 185.5 yen per kg, up 2.5% from the previous close.
Rubber takes cues from 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 by $1.51 at $160.90 per 100 kg. In Malaysia, the SMR-20 grade rubber was up $1.81 at $137.10 per 100 kg, according to data from India’s Rubber Board.
A rise in price of natural rubber in the key spot markets of Kerala also supported contracts on the ICEX. Price of rubber rose in spot markets of Kerala today due to the ongoing supply crunch in the market amid renewed demand from stockists, traders said.
At Kottayam and Kochi, the RSS-4 variety of rubber was sold in the range of 123-125 rupees per kg, up 1-2 rupees from the previous close, traders said. Gains in global market also supported prices in the domestic market, said Kurian Abraham, a trader based in Kochi.
Natural rubber prices for spot markets in Kerala were unavailable on the Rubber Board’s website.
OUTLOOK
In the coming days, prices of natural rubber in the domestic markets are likely to recover following ongoing supply crunch in the market and tracking gains in benchmark contracts on TOCOM, traders said. End
US$1 = 71.34 rupees
Edited by Aditya Sakorkar
