Spot rubber extended losses on Monday. RSS4 surrendered to Rs.169.00 (169.50) a kg according to traders and the Rubber Board. The grade dropped to Rs. 164.00 (164.50) a kg as per Dealers. The commodity continued to remain subdued inline with the declines in domestic futures and overseas trendsetters and the volumes were extremely low.
"We are waiting for an improvement in arrivals as rains subsided in favour of tapping in most plantation areas" a Dealer told Business Line. "Major consuming industries are expected to return with enhanced quotes once they know that we have sufficient stocks to supply them."
There are also reports that certain small growers and dealers are in a serious financial crisis probably due to the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown restrictions. It may be difficult for them to hold the stocks for more than a limited time in the days to come.
In futures, the June delivery was down 1.0 percent from Friday's settlement price to close at Rs.166.00 per kg with a volume of 60 lots on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).
RSS 3 (spot) weakened to Rs.153.97 (154.46) per kg at Bangkok. SMR 20 inched up to Rs.119.56 (119.55) while Latex slid to Rs.99.45 (99.55) per kg at Kualalumpur.
The natural rubber contract for the September delivery lost 125 Yuan (Rs.1432.93) from previous day's settlement price to close at 12,605 Yuan (Rs.144,537.20) a tonne with a volume of 360,875 lots in day time trading on Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE).
The front month June delivery improved 0.17 percent to close at 241.2 Yen (Rs.162.37) per kg with a volume of 2 lots on the Osaka Exchange, Japan.
Spot rubber rates (Rs/kg) were: RSS4:169.00 (169.50); RSS5: 167.00 (167.50); ISNR20: 156.50 (157.00) and Latex (60% drc): 120.00 (121.50).