(Photo by Mohd Suhaimi Mohamed Yusuf/The Edge)
KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): The Malaysian rubber market is expected to see range-bound trading with a downward bias next week following the new surge in Covid-19 cases globally.
Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) immediate past president Denis Low said as governments in many countries were advocating lockdowns to contain the spread of the deadly virus, it was inevitable that the recovery process for businesses and schools would be affected.
“Furthermore, the vaccine roll-out is a bit too slow and not encouraging at all for normalcy to return.
“Thus, we are expecting another slow week for the rubber market with sporadic demand,” he told Bernama.
He said traders might trade cautiously next week with consumption remained sluggish.
Low, however, believed that it would not cause volatility in the market. Instead, he said rubber prices may just hold steady as an overstock situation had yet to be seen at present.
For the week just ended, the local rubber market was mainly influenced by regional rubber futures markets, crude oil prices, global automotive production, as well as concerns over surging Covid-19 cases in the US and Europe.
On a weekly basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s (MRB) reference physical price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) declined 17 sen to 673.5 sen per kg, while latex in bulk decreased 22 sen to 656 sen per kg.
At 5pm on Thursday, the MRB’s closing price for SMR 20 stood at 673.5 sen per kg, compared with 699 sen per kg on Friday last week, while latex in bulk was at 681 sen per kg versus 651 sen per kg previously.
Malaysia’s rubber market closed yesterday for the Good Friday holiday along with international rubber markets and will resume operations on Monday.
