Demand for rubber likely to slow next week

The Malaysian rubber market is expected to remain subdued next week on weak demand as traders will be away for the year-end holidays, dealers said.

A dealer said the commodity price would likely move sideways and would also depend on market supply and the ringgit’s performance.

“Output of natural rubber in the producing countries are increasing but export figures will be good. This will help cushion the prices from further decline,” the dealer told Bernama.

He said the weaker ringgit, which ended the week at 4.4725/4755 against the US dollar, would provide some support to the market.

Movement of rubber furtures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM), which  set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, would also influence prices on the domestic market next week.

The local market will be closed on Monday in lieu of the Christmas public holiday which falls on Sunday.

For the week just-ended, trading was mixed mainly dampened by the volatility in other commodities prices such as crude oil and soyabean, as well as the fluctuation of the ringgit.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s noon price for SMR 20 dropped 62.5 sen to 863.5 sen a kg and latex-in-bulk shed 7.5 sen to 644 sen a kg.

The 5 pm unofficial closing price for SMR 20 fell 43 sen to 872 sen a kg, while latex-in-bulk eased 5.5 sen to 644.5 sen a kg.