Rubber witnesses up trend

Kottayam: The rubber prices were extremely optimistic on July 26. Sheet rubber surged to Rs 85 and Rs 85.50 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi from 82 a kg as covering groups and purchase agents turned aggressive. In futures, the August contract for RSS 4 flared up to Rs 84.99 a kg from Rs 81.99 on MCX. The August contract for the grade finished sharply higher at Rs 86.27 (82.96), September at Rs 84 (80.85), October at Rs 83.52 (80.31) and November at Rs 82.40 (80) per kg on NMCE. The August futures for RSS 3 increased to 259.3 Yen (Rs 86.84 ) from 249.9 Yen a kg at TOCOM. RSS 3 (spot) closed at Rs 84.53 against Rs 84.39 a kg at Bangkok. Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 85 (82); RSS-5: 82.50 (80.50); ungraded: 81 (78); ISNR 20: 82.50 (79.50) and latex 60 per cent: 59.45 (58.40).