Spot rubber closed unchanged on Wednesday. RSS-4 was steady at ₹130 a kg. Sentiments remained neutral possibly following a partial recovery in domestic futures and the market lost its direction amidst scattered transactions.

According to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), the fungal leaf disease — which has affected around 0.7 million hectares of mature trees — can further weigh on global supplies. But it is unlikely to evoke positive influence on NR prices during March because the sentiments are over-dominated by the concerns about the impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

In futures, the March contracts improved to ₹128.99 (128.67), April to ₹131.54 (129.39) and May to ₹133.30 (132.09) per kg on the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). The near month March contracts were up by 0.25 per cent with a volume of 39 lots and total trade value of ₹50.23 lakh.

RSS-3 (spot) firmed up to ₹115.54 (114.54) per kg at Bangkok. The March futures slid to ₹112.90 (113.12), April to ₹114.23 (114.24) and May to ₹115.08 (115.44) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

Spot rubber rates (₹/kg): RSS-4: 130 (130), RSS-5: 125 (125), ISNR 20: 116 (117) and Latex (60% drc): 84.50 (84.50).