Sheet rubber prices go up on short supply

Kottayam: Falls in leading international markets failed to depress the physical rubber rates, while the futures market lost its steam on July 17. On the global front, the August futures for RSS 3 fell to 249.6 Yen (Rs 82.68 ) from 254.9 Yen a kg at TOCOM. The grade (spot) fell to Rs 83.78 from Rs 84.11 a kg at Bangkok. On the contrary, sheet rubber moved up to Rs 83 from Rs 82 a kg at Kottayam and Kochi driven by short supply. The rubber futures weakened, decreasing the gap between global rates accumulated during the previous few sessions. On NMCE, the August contract fell to Rs 83.25 (84.61), September contract to Rs 81.95 (83.51), October to Rs 82 (83.57) and November contract to Rs 81.29 (82.87) per kg for RSS 4. Spot prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 83 (82); RSS-5: 81 (80); ungraded: 79 (78); ISNR 20: 80.50 (79.50) and latex 60 per cent: 58.40 (58.40).