Natural rubber prices firming up in 2019

London – Natural rubber prices have performed quite robustly since the start of the year, a snapshot of trading on the main commodity markets shows.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, prices for the most heavily traded rubber future Ru1909 was trading at Yuan11,585/tonne at the end of March.

This was about level with the Yuan11,845/tonne recorded for the most heavily traded rubber future (Ru1905) in the first week of January.

In Japan, TOCOM back-month prices for RSS3 grade reached Yen185.8/kg at the end of trading in March, down from Yen200.8/kg in the first week of 2019.

Back-month prices for TSR20 grade ended March at around Yen 163.0/kg, slightly above levels seen since its launch last October on the Tokyo exchange.

Figures compiled by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), meanwhile, put the average weekly price for Malaysia latex at $119.99/100kg, compared to $94.63/100kg in the first week of January.

The association noted increases over the same period in Bangkok for RSS3, by 15.8% to $175.58/100kg and STR20 grade rubber, by 12.8% to $152.91/100kg.

In Kuala Lumpur, average weekly prices for SMR20 increased by 9.9% to $145.60/100kg over the first three months of this year, ANRPC figures also show.