Rubber Witnesses Up Trend

Kottayam: Physical rubber prices improved on March 27. RSS 4 recovered to Rs 94 a kg from Rs 93.50 and Rs 93.75, respectively at Kottayam and Kochi. The April contract for RSS 4 moved down to Rs 94 from Rs 94.45 a kg on MCX. On NMCE, the April contract for the grade was slightly better at Rs 93.70 (93.59), while the remaining contracts completed in the red. The May contract weakened to Rs 97.30 (97.59), June to Rs 100.30 (100.58) and July contract to Rs 101.90 (102.72) a kg for RSS 4. The open interest stood at 12,394 (12,506) tonnes with 4,725 tonnes in April, 5,266 tonnes in May, 1,973 tonnes in June and 430 tonnes in July. The volumes were 1,405 (2,796) tonnes. RSS 3 (spot) closed at Rs 100.14 against Rs 100.12 a kg at Bangkok. The April futures for the grade declined to 270.5 yen (Rs 98.64) from 271 yen a kg at TOCOM. Spot rubber rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 94 (93.50); RSS-5: 93 (92.50); Ungraded: 92 (91.50); ISNR 20: 92.50 (92) and Latex 60 per cent: 64.20 (64.20).