Green shoots start to appear in natural rubber markets

摘要

LONDON: Natural rubber prices are starting to show signs of stability and even revival in the main trading centres of the Far East.The fledgling recovery is being linked to talks among the main producer countries-Indonesia,Malaysia,Thailand-to take renewed steps to shore up prices.Also encouraging were Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries(ANRPC) figures showing a 5.2% year-on-year rise in global NR demand to 11.7 million tonnes for the first 10 months of 2018.In its latest market review,issued 24 Dec,ANRPC reported that NR production increased 5.5% to 11.5 million tonnes during the period,leading to a shortfall of 228,000 tonnes.But the champagne-like the many large stocks of NR-looks set to remain in storage for some time to come,amid concerns about the global economy and inventory levels in China.