Rubber prices continued to seek further lows on Monday. RSS 4 declined to Rs. 132.50 (135.00) per kg, according to traders. The grade weakened to Rs. 133.00 (135.00) and Rs. 129.00 (131.00) per kg respectively as reported by the Rubber Board and Dealers. The market saw all-round declines due to buyers’ resistance amid concerns that the spread of coronavirus could hurt the global economy. Sharp declines in TOCOM futures also weighed heavily on the prices.

In futures, the February contracts surrendered to Rs. 128.73 (131.36), March to Rs. 130.04 (132.78) and April to Rs. 133.30 (135.78) per kg on the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). The near month February contracts were down by 2.00% with a volume of 363 lots and total trade value of Rs 468.78 lakh .

RSS 3 (spot) slid to Rs. 108.18 (109.18) per kg at Bangkok. The February futures nosedived to Rs. 100.02 (106.10), March to Rs. 109.23 (113.90) and April to Rs.112.53 (117.51) per kg on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM).

According to Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), world supply of natural rubber (NR) fell by 0.7% to 13.764 million tonnes in 2019 from 13.864 million tonnes in the previous year largely due to a decline in the average yield, which is measured in terms of the annual production from a hectare of the harvested area. Although the total harvested area in the member countries of ANRPC expanded by 3.51 lakh hectares in 2019, the average yield came down during the year by 110 kg per hectare due to poor maintenance of rubber holdings, unfavourable climate, and the outbreak of new fungal leaf disease in parts of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka.

Spot rubber rates (Rs/kg) were:

RSS-4: 132.50 (135.00)

RSS-5: 127.00 (129.50)

ISNR 20: 115.50 (117.50)

and Latex (60% drc): 84.50 (85.00)

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Aravindan, Kottayam.

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