The Hindu Business Line : Spot rubber rules weak

Major manufacturers continued to abstain from the market as they might be comfortable with their imports but certain tyre people gave quotes for sheet rubber much below at Rs 77 a kg, sources said.

The grade was traded at Rs 78 against Rs 78.50 a kg at Kottayam and Kochi on moderate selling from dealers. Most of the traders sold rubber at heavy losses since the reports on stocks with quality concerns were still infecting the trading sentiments.

"The monsoon at its full swing would create tight supply conditions soon and we expect the prices to turn around within a short span,'' a grower told Business Line.

Futures better

The rubber futures finished better on NMCE. The July contract flared up to Rs 80 (78.52), August to Rs 80.99 (79.84), September Rs 80.40 (78.98) and October to Rs 79.60 (77.85) per kg for RSS 4. The market was dull in the morning session but bounced back later possibly on speculative buying and short covering at lower levels.

The open interest was quoted at 5,787 (5,636) tonnes with 2,907 (2,980) tonnes in July, 1,754 (1,630) tonnes in August, 738 (691) tonnes in September and 388 (335) tonnes in October. The volumes were 3,066 (3,572) lots. Meanwhile the July contract improved to Rs 80.46 from Rs 79.58 a kg on MCX. RSS 3 (spot) moved down to Rs 89.78 from Rs 90.84 a kg at Bangkok. The July futures for the grade slipped marginally to 267.1 yen (Rs 87.67) from 267.9 yen a kg at TOCOM.

Spot rubber prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 78 (78.50); RSS-5: 76.75 (77.50); Ungraded: 75 (76); ISNR 20: 76.25 (77) and Latex 60%: 57.90 (58.95).