Spot rubber prices increased further on Thursday. Heavy rain has already affected production and supplies to a great extent in almost all plantations. Most of the traders were expecting an increase in prices on supply concerns during the ongoing monsoon season.
According to sources, there were enquiries from major manufactures in the past couple of days, possibly reacting to the change in weather though they have not been visibly very active. The market might suffer from acute shortage of the raw material during the ongoing season, they predicted.
Sheet rubber increased to Rs. 226 (223.50) a kg, according to traders. The grade improved to Rs 225 (224) a kg both at Kottayam and Kochi, as quoted by the Rubber Board.
The June series recovered partially to Rs 228.40 (226.60), July to Rs 233.35 (231.44), August to Rs 234.44 (232.16), September to Rs 231.50 (230.02) and October to Rs 230.98 (225.90) a kg for RSS 4 on National Multi Commodity Exchange.
RSS 3 (spot) dropped to Rs. 234.63 (236.36) a kg at Bangkok. The June futures for the grade moved down to ¥ 415.0 (Rs. 230.49) from ¥ 420.05 a kg during the day session on Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Physical rubber rates (Rs/kg) were: RSS-4: 226 (223.50); RSS-5: 221 (220); ungraded: 217 (216); ISNR 20: 214 (212); and Latex 60%: 132.50 (131)