RUBBER MARKET TO TRADE RANGE-BOUND WITH UPWARD TENDENCY NEXT WEEK

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- The rubber market is expected to trade range-bound next week with a bias towards higher prices, influenced by the northeast monsoon and escalating tension between the European Union (EU) and Russia, said industry expert Denis Low.

He told Bernama the prolonged European conflict will raise uncertainties for businesses and jeopardise commodity prices and demand, while the northeast monsoon is going to impact rubber production.

“This is bad news for Europe. An all-out war will be extremely destructive for humanity. It will impact all forms of commerce,” Low said.

He said the northeast monsoon has brought heavy and continuous rains over major rubber-producing regions.

“These two strong diverging factors can equalise each other out in the supply and demand dynamics of the rubber market, resulting in volatility,” he said.

Low also said that the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) warned about colder temperatures in the upper regions, heavy rain in the south and strong winds over the Gulf of Thailand.

He said the TMD had issued advisories about public health during the monsoon season and the farming community to take crop-protection measures during the cold weather and gusty winds. Thunderstorms are also expected in several regions in Malaysia, he said.

Another dealer said rubber prices are expected to be influenced by movements in regional rubber futures markets, the performance of the ringgit against the US dollar, and fluctuations in benchmark crude oil prices, amid concerns over natural rubber supply due to weather uncertainties.

“Traders will also closely monitor US-China trade relations, updates in the semiconductor chips industry, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and key US and China economic indicators,” he said.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s reference price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) rose by 0.83 per cent, or six sen, to 730.5 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk increased 1.58 per cent, or by 9.0 sen to 577 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA