RUBBER MARKET EXPECTED TO BE QUIET NEXT WEEK WITH A SLIGHT UPWARD BIAS

By Engku Shariful Azni Engku Ab Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Bernama) -- The rubber market is expected to be quiet with a tendency to move slightly higher next week, said industry expert Denis Low.

He said that despite the continuous rain which hampered rubber production, there is no anxiety over shortages and volatility in supply, demand and prices.

“In fact, it can be said that this year seems to a lot more stable in terms of supply and demand dynamics.

“While supply is curbed to a certain extent, the maturity of users in stocking up a little to manage the monsoon period is crucial in the stabilisation of supply and demand,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, Low said the Thai Meteorological Department has forecast a fairly strong northeast monsoon over the Gulf of Thailand, southern Thailand and the Andaman Sea, which would bring isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in the southern region.

As for the Malaysian Meteorological Department, he said it has issued an alert-level continuous rain warning for several states in Peninsular Malaysia.

During the week, the Kuala Lumpur rubber market was closed on Dec 24 and 25 for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and resumed trading on Dec 26.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s reference price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) increased by 20.5 sen to 743.5 sen per kilogramme (kg) while latex-in-bulk declined by a sen to 574 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA