Spot rubber prices tumble as physical market opens after 50-day lockdown

Spot rubber prices were sharply down when the physical market resumed trading after a long gap of 50 days on Wednesday. RSS 4 declined to ₹116 (₹125) a kg, according to the Rubber Board. As per reports, the Board has bought 56 tonnes of rubber so far under the Price Support Scheme.

Rubber futures on the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) were mixed as lack of clarity over the government stimulus kept most traders on the sidelines. The May month contracts were down, with 21 lots of reduction in open interest due to long liquidation. However, June rubber was a shade higher, with 26 lots addition in open interest presumably indicating rollover of longs from May contracts.

The May contracts weakened to ₹113.25 (₹113.50) while the June contracts improved to ₹114.09 (₹113.92) per kg on the ICEX. The May contracts were down 0.22 per cent with a volume of 30 lots and total trade value of ₹33.94 lakh.

“Rubber futures are expected to remain range-bound between ₹11,000 and 11,580 levels until the end of this week,” said Ajay Kedia of Kedia Securities.

RSS 3 (spot) dropped to ₹104.78 (₹104.89) per kg at Bangkok. Its May futures slid to ₹98.60 (₹98.78), June to ₹100.85 (₹100.96) and July to ₹103.32 (₹103.41) per kg on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM). SMR20 improved to ₹82.12 (₹81.48) and Latex 60 per cent to ₹75.47 (₹74.35 ) per kg at Kuala Lumpur.

Spot rubber rates (Rs/kg) were: RSS-4: ₹116 (₹125); RSS-5: ₹110 (₹120); ISNR 20: ₹108 (₹114); and Latex (60{f08ff3a0ad7db12f5b424ba38f473ff67b97b420df338baa81683bbacd458fca} drc): ₹78.20 (₹84)