Malaysian rubber market seen on uptrend

The Malaysian rubber prices are expected to see an upward trend this week on better demand for the commodity, dealers said.

A dealer said local rubber prices are expected to be higher on strong overseas demand, especially from China. China is the world's largest consumer of rubber and its key suppliers of natural rubber are Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The dealer said China's economy is showing fresh signs of strength with improvement in manufacturing activity for December, which could help boost market sentiment this week. The local rubber mart sentiment is also expected to be in line with the performance of Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM).

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board's sellers' official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 advanced 10 sen to 870 sen per kg, while latex-in-bulk added four sen to 575.5 sen per kg. The unofficial sellers' closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 improved 16 sen to 874.5 sen per kg and latex-in-bulk rose half-a-sen to 578.5 sen per kg.