Spot rubber prices turn weak

Spot rubber turned weak on Wednesday. The RSS 4 declined to ₹152 from ₹153 and ₹152.50 per kg respectively, according to traders and the Rubber Board. The grade dropped to ₹158 (158.50) per kg, according to dealers. The trend was mixed as ISNR20 and latex closed unchanged amidst scattered transactions.

In futures, the natural rubber contract for January delivery slid to ₹154.20 (155.11) per kg on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).

Assam, one of India's non-traditional rubber growing states, is going for a major rubber planting programme with the strong support from the auto-tyre manufacturing industry. The industry will invest ₹1,100 crore to expand the cultivation by 2,00,000 hectares over the next five years in the various north-eastern states.

As per reports, in 2019 the domestic production of natural rubber met only 57 per cent of the demand for within the country. India had to import 6,01,000 tonnes in 2018 and 4,87,000 tonnes in 2019 to cater to the demand from the domestic manufacturing sector amidst constraints in increasing the production in the traditional rubber growing states.

RSS 3 (spot) improved to ₹161.51 (160.35) per kg at Bangkok. SMR 20 weakened to ₹114.17 (115.46) and Latex to ₹103.29 (104.35) per kg at Kuala Lumpur.

The most active natural rubber contract for May delivery was up by 110 Yuan (₹1,245.48) from Tuesday's settlement price to close at 14,375 Yuan (₹162,761.54) a tonne on Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE).

Spot rubber rates (Rs/kg) were: RSS4:152.00 (153.00); RSS5: 141.50(142.00); ISNR20: 125.00 (125.00) and Latex (60% drc): 105.00 (105.00).