Rubber at record high of Rs 100/ kg

The price of natural rubber has touched the magic figure of Rs 100 a kg, a level which growers and traders have been waiting for in the last one year.

The price of benchmark RSS-4 in Kochi and Kottayam has spurted today to Rs 100, up by Rs 3 from the yesterday's level to touch the highest-ever price recorded in the domestic rubber market.

Market sources said the market had been anticipating to see this price tag, but most traders did not expect this in the current week at least. RSS-4 was quoted at Rs 97 on Thursday but it surged to Rs 99 in the opening hour of trading today.

Later, by the fag of the trading session, the price scaled further to hit the new peak of Rs 100. Brisk buying by exporters buoyed up the prices to finally hit the record margin, they said.

Other grades, too, registered a corresponding increase. While RSS-5 climbed to Rs 97 a kg, ISNR-20 (crumb rubber) moved up to Rs 95 and ungraded sheet rose to Rs 94.50.

Traders in the city said the steep rise in prices in the global markets is the major cause for this sudden increase in the domestic market.

Earlier today, Tokyo Commodity Exchange and the Bangkok market had registered a sharp rise in the price of the benchmark RSS-3 at Rs 114 a kg, which enthused the domestic market immensely.

The market observers said even now the Indian prices were lower by Rs 14 a kg and this disparity would boost exports from the country further.

Although, currently, production is on the rise, supplies to terminal markets are not sufficient because a major section of growers is reluctant to dispose of the stock, as prices are spiralling up and they think they can make more money by selling their stocks later.

In fact, they think that the domestic prices will increase further because of the global price's uptrend, combined with tightening local supply.