Spot rubber was in a mixed mood on Tuesday. Major consuming industries were visibly active in the market but they preferred to keep a very low profile.

“I do not expect any aggressive buying from the tyre companies until this month end since we are almost at the end of the current financial year”, a trader said. “They may even lift their recent purchases only on April due to the same reason.”   RSS-4 closed unchanged at ₹174 per kg, according to traders. The grade improved to ₹173.50 (173.00) as reported by the Rubber Board. Most dealers were hesitant to enhance their commitments but ISNR20 and latex ended in green mainly on enquiries from the general rubber goods sector.   In futures, the most active March contracts were up 1.08 per cent from last day’s settlement price to close at ₹172.85 per kg with a volume of 4 lots on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). RSS-3 (spot) slid to ₹168.70 (168.75) per kg at Bangkok. SMR20 declined to ₹132.80 (137.16) and Latex to ₹125.49 (127.70) per kg at Kuala Lumpur.   The natural rubber contract for the May 2022 delivery was down 1.95 per cent from previous day’s settlement price to close at 13.35 Yuan (₹160.38) per kg with a volume of 186,485 lots in daytime trading on Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE).  

Spot rubber rates (₹/kg) were: RSS-4: 174 (174), RSS-5: 171 (171), ISNR20: 164 (163) and Latex (60% drc): 125.50 (125).