Rubber Witnesses Firm Trend

Kottayam: Spot rubber showed a steady trend on May 15. Sheet rubber managed to settle at Rs 85.25 and Rs 85.50 respectively at Kottayam and Kochi against Rs 85 a kg but the trading volumes were low in most of the grades. The rubber futures increased though the overseas markets were not promising. The May contract expired firm at Rs 85.55 (85.02) a kg on NMCE, while the June contract was quoted better at Rs 87.95 (87.29), July at Rs 90 (89.44) and August at Rs 90.50 (89.22) per kg for RSS 4. The open interest was 6,202 (7,424) tonnes with 3,866 (3,812) tonnes in June, 1,815 (1,795) tonnes in July and 521 (507) tonnes in August. The volumes were 1,300 (1,260) tonnes. The June contract was traded at Rs 87.93 against Rs 87.53 a kg on MCX. RSS 3 declined by 73 paise to Rs 94.62 a kg at Bangkok. The June futures for the grade was almost steady at 273.4 Yen (Rs 92.88) against 273.5 Yen a kg at TOCOM. Physical prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 85.25 (85); RSS-5: 84.50 (84); ungraded: 83.25 (83); ISNR 20: 84 (83.75) and latex 60 percent: 63.15 (63.15).