The Hindu Business Line : Sheet rubber prices improve

Kottayam, Dec. 11 Sheet rubber improved to Rs 92 a kg from Rs 91.50 both at Kottayam and Kochi following a firm closing in international rubber prices on Tuesday. The January futures for RSS 3 moved up further to 273.3 Yen (Rs 96.21) from ¥267.8 a kg at TOCOM. The grade was better by 75 paise at Rs 95.89 a kg at Bangkok. The market activities were not vigorous as most of the grades except ungraded rubber which lost 50 paise on buyer resistance closed flat lacking support from the consuming sectors. According to market circles major manufacturers were not interested in RSS 4 above Rs 91 a kg. The trend was mixed.

Futures slip

On the contrary in domestic futures, the December contract for RSS 4 weakened to Rs 93.40 (Rs 93.88), January to Rs 94.35 (Rs 95.14), February to Rs 95.70 (Rs 96.66) and March to Rs 97.51 (Rs 98.40) per kg on NMCE. The volumes totalled 1,407 (1,403) tonnes. The open interest was 7,174 (6,924) lots with 1,262 (1,314) lots in December, 2,985 (2,887) lots in January, 2,219 (2,090) lots in February and 708 (633) lots in March. The December contract was almost steady at Rs 94 against Rs 93.90 a kg on MCX.

Spot prices per kg were: RSS-4: Rs 92 (Rs 91.50); RSS-5: Rs 87.50 (Rs 87.50); ungraded: Rs 85 (Rs 85.50); ISNR 20: Rs 87 (Rs 87) and Latex 60 per cent: Rs 61 (Rs 61).