Spot rubber continued to recover the early losses on Thursday. The market opened steady but improved later as certain dealers began to procure the raw material. However, the gains were limited as major consuming industries stayed back possibly to avoid a sharp rise in prices.
“The industrial giants should buy at these levels, at least to protect the growers and help them survive since prices are ruling almost ₹35.00 a kg below the recent high,” a dealer told BusinessLine. “Sadly, they are almost at the tail end of the peak production season.”
RSS-4 improved to ₹162.50 (162) per kg, according to traders. The grade firmed up to ₹162 (161) a kg as per the Rubber Board. The overall volumes were low.
Jan contracts down
In futures, the most active January contracts were down 0.42 per cent from Wednesday’s settlement price to close at ₹164.69 per kg with a volume of 5 lots on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).
RSS3 (spot) firmed up to ₹148.67 (148.20) per kg at Bangkok. SMR20 declined to ₹134.76 (136.73) while Latex inched up to ₹106.40 (106.07) per kg at Kuala Lumpur.
The natural rubber contract for the May 2022 delivery was down 0.7 per cent from previous day’s settlement price to close at 14.94 Yuan (₹175.33) per kg with a volume of 2,88,699 lots in daytime trading on Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE).
Spot rubber rates (₹/kg) were: RSS-4:162.50 (162), RSS-5: 158.50 (157.50), ISNR20: 149 (148) and Latex (60% drc): 129 (129).