The Hindu Business Line : Spot rubber prices improve

Kottayam, Dec. 19 Rubber prices improved on Wednesday. The uptrend gained strength as the weather turned dull with a cloudy sky though the rain was only a drizzle. Another positive closing in global markets extended further support to the covering groups to lift the prices. Sheet rubber moved up to Rs 92 and Rs 91.50 a kg from Rs 91.25 and Rs 91 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi and the trend was mixed. There were no revised offers from the tyre sector. The prices are expected to remain firm as there is no considerable increase in supply, an observer said. RSS 3 strengthened at its January futures to ¥283.7 (99.20) from ¥280.5 a kg at TOCOM. The grade finished better by 43 paise at Rs 98.93 a kg at Bangkok spot.

Futures gain

In domestic futures, the January contracts improved to Rs 95 (Rs 93.98) a kg on MCX. The January futures for RSS 4 was traded higher at Rs 95.02 (Rs 93.96), February at Rs 96.61 (Rs 95.36) , March at Rs 97.99 (Rs 96.56) and April at Rs 99.84 (Rs 98.12) per kg on NMCE. The open interest stood at 7,156 (7,054) lots with 3,005 (3,078) tonnes in January, 2,951 (2,815) tonnes in February, 1,098 (1,084) tonnes in March and 102 (77) tonnes in April. The volumes were better at 1,265 (892) lots.

Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 92 (91.25); RSS-5: 88 (88); ungraded: 87 (86.50); ISNR 20: 87.50 (87) and latex 60 per cent: 60.50 (60.50).