Spot rubber turns weak

Physical rubber prices turned weak on Tuesday. RSS 4 moved down to Rs 140 from Rs 141 a kg on buyer resistance. The volumes continued to be low as there were no quantity sellers or buyers in the main marketing centres. According to market circles, major manufacturers were active on sheet rubber at the quoted levels. Meanwhile, sharp declines in Japanese rubber futures followed by heavy long liquidation kept the domestic prices under pressure during the session.

Futures slip

Most of the players seemed to be expecting an improvement in arrivals towards mid September. RSS 3 declined sharply at its September contract to ¥334.8 (Rs 136.71) from ¥343.5, October to ¥323.8 (334.7), November to ¥318.1 (330.1), December to ¥312.4 (322.9), January to ¥307.5 (319) and February to ¥307.1 (318.2) a kg at TOCOM. RSS 3 spot improved further to Rs 132.79 (131.81) a kg at Bangkok. Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 140 (141); RSS-5: 136.50 (138); ungraded: 132.50 (133); ISNR 20: 130 (132) and latex 60 per cent: 80.50 (81.50).