The Hindu Business Line : Spot rubber recovers

Spot rubber bounced back on Wednesday. A sharp turnaround in international futures and smart gains in Bangkok spot combined to set the trend of the day amidst low trading volumes.

Sheet rubber improved to Rs 96 and Rs 95.50 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi from Rs 95 a kg on fresh buying and short covering. The covering groups and purchase agents turned cautious as the difference between the domestic and international rubber widened further almost to Rs 15 per kg.

Firm undertone

Though the market lost its strength towards Rs 100 levels earlier, sustained demand at lower levels due to acute shortage of the raw material kept the undercurrent firm, a trader said.

The rubber futures stayed in tune with the global markets on NMCE. The near month June contract was quoted at Rs 98.24 (Rs 96.99), July at Rs 98.56 (Rs 97.20) and August at Rs 96.77 (Rs 95.32) and September contract at Rs 95.29 (Rs 94.30) per kg for RSS 4.

The transactions till mid-day totalled 1,333 tonnes recording 580 tonnes in June, 500 tonnes in July, 215 tonnes in August and 38 tonnes in September

The June futures for RSS 3 moved up to 275.4 yen (Rs 113.93) from 267.7 yen a kg at TOCOM. The grade closed at Rs 111.15 against Rs 108.29 a kg at Bangkok spot.

The per kg spot prices were: RSS-4: Rs 96 (Rs 95); RSS-5: Rs 94 (Rs 93); Ungraded: Rs 92.50 (Rs 92); ISNR 20: Rs 93 (Rs 92.25); and Latex 60 per cent (per litre): Rs 71 (Rs 70).