Malaysian Rubber Board expects “uptrend” in market

Kuala Lumpur – The Malaysian Rubber Board, in its latest newsletter on 10 Nov, announced that the Kuala Lumpur rubber market expected to “continue with the uptrend”.

The newsletter said that in Oct 2014, the Kuala Lumpur rubber market had strengthened due to “positive sentiment on a weaker ringgit and a rise in Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber futures, resulting from an increase in the prices of crude oil and base metals.”

The report continued to speculate that the Kuala Lumpur rubber market would continue with the uptrend “following the improvement in regional futures markets that helped boost the local market."

The positive trend, it added, will also be supported by a US Federal Reserve announcement signalling an end a bond purchasing programme which flagged the country’s economic recovery.The market was further buoyed by a pick-up in the regional futures market.

Also, the Kuala Lumpur rubber market and other regional markets, both physical and futures, responded positively on the announcement of a series of measures by the Thai government to help rubber farmers in the kingdom. The steps are to include purchasing the commodity to build up stockpiles in a bid to bolster prices.