Rubber Price Monitor: Ups and downs

London – Natural rubber (NR) futures were flat over the recent weeks, following a sharp bounce in August and early September.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery posted a minor decline in the two weeks to 18 Sept, according to ERJ’s snapshot of Far East markets.

In Japan the OSE's near-term contracts saw a sharper decline, on the back of a sudden spike earlier in the month. 

In Kuala Lumpur, markets performed better with both SMR20 and latex prices continuing to make gains.

In its latest monthly review of NR prices, Malaysian Rubber Board linked the surge in prices to shortage of supply as well as improving demand from China and “encouraging economic data and auto sales” in the country.

Shanghai SHFE ru2101: Yuan12,550/tonne (18 Sept) compared to Yuan 12,580/tonne (4 Sept) – down 0.2% 

OSE RSS3 nearby month: Yen186/kg compared to Yen199/kg – down 6.5% 

Singapore SGX TSR20: $1.38/kg compared to $1.39/kg – down 0.7%

Kuala Lumpur SMR20: $137.40/kg compared to $135.75/kg – up 1.2%

Kuala Lumpur Latex: $120.62/kg compared to $116.26/kg – up 3.7%