Tight supply seen boosting rubber prices

Continued tight supply coupled with the forthcoming Lunar New Year
festival in January is expected to see the Malaysian rubber market
opening on a high note come 2012.


Supply of the commodity is expected to slow down even further in
the next two months as latex output from Thailand is expected to be
considerably reduced as a result of the dry weather there.


"The market is worried about the shortage situation," said a
dealer, adding that the situation would be aggravated with the hoarding
of the commodity by traders who kept rubber in warehouses, waiting to
capitalise on higher prices.



On a week-to-week basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official
physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 this week fell 30 sen to 1,023.5
sen per kg which was 37.5 per cent lower when compared with a year ago
prices.






Latex-in-bulk lost 18.5 sen to 645 sen per kg this week and was 34.58
per cent easier when compared with the same period last year. --
Bernama