Spot rubber ended in a mixed mood with an upward bias on Friday. Though the market continued to remain in an upward trajectory owing to supply concerns, the absence of genuine sellers kept buyers almost inactive in sheet rubber during the weekend session. The remaining grades, including RSS5, closed higher on fresh enquiries amid` tight supplies

As per reports, the outlook on the demand for NR from India, the US, EU, Japan and ASEAN-5 has further improved amidst resumption of economic activities covering a wider spectrum of sectors and the progress made in lifting travel restrictions including international travels in the case of a few countries. In India, the automobile manufacturing sector, especially the Commercial Vehicle sector, has returned close to the pre-pandemic level despite constraints caused by the shortage of chip semiconductors.

Also see: Rubber Board to augment sheet production, design scheme to compensate farmers

RSS4 finished flat at ₹192.00 per kg as reported by the traders. The grade flared up to ₹191.00 (188.00) and ₹186.00 (183.00) per kg respectively according the Rubber Board and Dealers.

In futures, the November rubber contracts were down 2.01 per cent from Thursday’s settlement price to close at ₹195.00 per kg with a volume of 12 lots on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).

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RSS3 (spot) declined to ₹149.99 (152.20) per kg at Bangkok. SMR20 weakened to ₹133.67 (135.90) while Latex improved to ₹105.21 (104.49) per kg at Kualalumpur.

The natural rubber contract for the January 2022 delivery was down 3.06 percent from previous day’s settlement price to close at 150.00 Yuan (₹175.92) per kg with a volume of 160,470 lots in daytime trading on Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE).

Spot rubber rates (₹/kg) were: RSS4:192.00 (192.00), RSS5: 189.00 (188.00), ISNR20: 172.00 (171.00) and Latex (60% drc): 137.00 (135.00).