The Hindu Business Line : Rubber prices recover

The physical rubber prices recovered partially in the weekend session. Covering groups turned slightly aggressive as the one-week long lorry strike was almost over for the time being. Traders also preferred to remain optimistic about the immediate future of the market.

Sheet rubber improved to Rs 90 a kg from Rs 89 and Rs 89.50 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi. The demand from the non-tyre sector was also better in the main centres. According to available statistics the arrivals of the week were extremely low.

Futures steady

The futures were almost steady, while most of the participants sidelined the market on NMCE. The November contract concluded at Rs 89.34 (Rs 89.22), December at Rs 82.51 (Rs 82.78), January at Rs 82.20 (Rs 82.11) and February contract at Rs 83.85 (Rs 83.95) per kg for RSS 4. The open interest in November stood at 1470 (1489) lots, December 1867 (1822) lots, January 1000 (962) lots and February 384 (383) lots.The transactions were quoted extremely low at 439 lots.

Spot prices (Rs a kg) were: RSS-4: 90 (89); RSS-5: 88 (87); ungraded: 84 (83); ISNR 20: 87.50 ( 86.50) and latex 60 per cent: 61.05 (60).