Mixed picture in NR markets as futures impacted by China regulatory tightening

London – Natural rubber markets remained subdued during the last two weeks of July, with futures traded on the Shanghai impacted by the strengthening dollar and China’s regulatory crackdown on tech companies.

The overall sentiment in rubber futures was clouded by the continuing upsurge in the Covid19 spread worldwide and the ripple effect of heavy sell off in China’s stock market, said the latest market analysis by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC).

According to ANRPC, regulatory concerns caused by the crackdown on overseas-listed giant technology companies led to heavy sell off and wild downswings in stock prices in China’s stock market. 

However, a relatively favourable supply demand fundamental supported the physical prices of TSR (SMR20 and STR20) which is the most popular traded form of NR constituting around 70% of the global output, and predominantly used in tire manufacturing.

In a marked deviation from the usual pattern, the physical markets of TSR outperformed the rubber futures supported by a further improved outlook on the demand in the physical market and new concerns over the supply, ANRPC said in its 2 Aug analysis. 

Kuala Lumpur latex also continued its downtrend over the two-week period, particularly impacted by lower rubber gloves manufacturing as a result of Covid movement restrictions in Thailand and Malaysia. 
 
Shanghai SHFE ru2109:               Yuan13,570/tonne (16 July) to Yuan13,420/tonne (30 July) – down 1.1%
Osaka RSS3 nearby month:         Yen214.9/kg to Yen226.3 –up 5.3%
Singapore SGX TSR20:                $165.5/100kg to $168.5/100kg – up 1.8%
Kottayam RSS4:                           $227.15/100kg to $228.92/100kg – down 0.7
Kuala Lumpur SMR20:                 $167.00/100kg to $167.94/100kg – up 0.5%
Kuala Lumpur Latex:                    $122.71/100kg to $117.08/100kg – down 4.5%