Natural rubber markets continue to fall as Covid resurges

London – Natural rubber (NR) prices across key physical and futures markets remained subdued during the two weeks to 2 July, with some markets performing more strongly than the others. 

All Far East markets monitored by ERJ over the two-week period posted a decline, with RSS3 nearby prices falling 6.9% in Osaka.

The most-active rubber contract for September delivery in Shanghai posted a marginal weekly average decline of 0.7% during the period, while slowing rubber gloves demand saw latex prices continue to tumble.

Prices generally remained subdued or bearish during the second week of June, except for a limited number of days between 22 and 25 June, said a 5 July report by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). 

The bearish trends were mostly due to the global resurgence of Covid-19, particularly the Delta variant and poor vaccination rates globally, said ANRPC’s bi-weekly NR trends analysis.

Adding to that, a slowdown in China’s manufacturing activity in June impacted rubber prices.

Citing a private survey, ANRPC said China's Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 51.3 in June from 52.0 in May, due mainly to supply chain disruptions caused by the resurgence of Covid-19 in Guangdong province. 

Global logistics disruptions, higher ocean freight costs, shipping delays, chip shortages, automotive slowdown, a stronger dollar and the increase in supply of natural rubber all had a negative impact the price trends across the markets. 

According to ANRPC , NR prices are not expected to make a noticeable recovery in the short-term despite rising demand from the US, Europe and India.

Shanghai SHFE ru2109:          Yuan12,795 (18 June) Yuan12,705 (2 July) down 0.7%
Osaka RSS3 nearby month:    Yen234.5/kg to Yen218.2/kg –down 6.9%
Singapore SGX TSR20:           $160.8/100kg to $157.1/100kg – down 2.3% 
Kottayam RSS4:                       $228.60/100kg to $224.39/100kg – down 1.8%
Kuala Lumpur SMR20:             $162.15/100kg to $161.48/100kg – down 0.4%
Kuala Lumpur Latex:                $135.04/100kg to $127.39/100kg – down 5.6%