Rubber Market Forecasts To Trade Slightly Lower Next Week

By Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid

KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market is projected to trade slightly lower next week due to ample supply, a balanced supply and demand, and limited speculative buying, despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and rising oil prices.

Industry expert Denis Low said the market is likely to remain resilient even as the US-Iran war enters its 150th day next week, with crude oil prices rebounding to about US$95 per barrel, heightening uncertainty across global commodity markets.

He said the higher oil prices are expected to raise logistics costs, but the impact on the rubber market is likely to be limited.

“Reports of unusual weather phenomena which brought on heavy rainfalls now seem manageable too. Hence, we are seeing rather conducive rubber productivity, and this may mean ample supply in the weeks ahead.

“On the demand side, there will not be much speculative buying except for the normal replenishment exercise. We are seeing a quiet week with supply and demand equalising out each other with a bias tendency for prices to stay slightly lower,” Low told Bernama.

The Thai Meteorological Department has forecast isolated heavy rain across Thailand, while Malaysia is expected to experience thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds in several states across Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board's reference price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) rose five sen to 892.0 sen per kilogramme, while latex in bulk fell four sen to 718.0 sen per kilogramme.

-- BERNAMA