Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Think of farmers & dealers to go on indefinite closure


The steady fall in price of rubber in the international market has been a matter of great concern for the rubber farmers and dealers. A division bench comprising of acting chief justice Ashok Bhushan and justice AM Shaffique considered a petition filed by former Parliament member PC Thomas. Kerala High Court observed that the Union government was bound to take into account the plight of rubber farmers while formulating import policies.

The domestic rubber dealers have stopped buying RSS-4 grade rubber from farmers and Indian Rubber Dealers Federation (IRDF) has announced an indefinite closure of their establishments from 17th March, by closing down their shops, if the tyre manufacturers are not ready to buy rubber immediately. If the closer continues for a longer period, imports are bound to increase further.

The benchmark RSS4 grade rubber closed at `.132.90 a kg at Kottayam, while RSS3 grade closed at `.110.73 a kg at Bangkok and Malaysian SMR20 closed at `.86.90 a kg. On National Multi Commodity Exchange March 2015 futures closed at `.120.85 a kg, April at `.124.37 and May at `.125.54 a kg. On Tokyo Commodity Exchange, March 2015 futures series closed at ¥213 a kg, April at ¥211.9, May at ¥212.3, June at ¥210.8, July at ¥208.9 and the contract for delivery in August 2015 closed at ¥208.5 a kg. On Thursday, most probably Tocom futures contract for delivery in August 2015 may trade in positive range of ¥209 & ¥214 a kg.

To read Rubber4U – 15th March 2015 issue: http://rubber4u.com/Public/Abcd.pdf
For Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights visit: www.rubber4u.com

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Dependency on import increases


Tokyo Commodity Exchange futures touched a one month intraday low of ¥206.6 a kg on Monday, still higher than it’s lowest in more than five years hit in October 2014. While today it fell by -1.9, ending the day at ¥208.7 a kg, as a yen regained some ground in late trade after hitting an eight-year low against the U.S dollar and also due to worry over slowing demand in China.

In February 2015, natural rubber production in India fell by 13.5% to 50,000 tonnes from 57,800 tonnes, while consumption increased to 82,500 tonnes from 79,375 tonnes in February 2014. Natural rubber imports in February jumped nearly 42% to 28,806 tonnes from a year earlier as lower prices in the world market prompted tyre makers to raise overseas purchases.

The benchmark RSS4 grade rubber closed at `.134.15 a kg at Kottayam, while RSS3 grade closed at `.111.81 a kg at Bangkok and Malaysian SMR20 closed at `.87.82 a kg. On National Multi Commodity Exchange March 2015 futures closed at `.120.18 a kg, April at `.123.94 and May at `.125.02 a kg. On Tokyo Commodity Exchange, March 2015 futures series closed at ¥212.7 a kg, April at ¥211.7, May at ¥212, June at ¥211.5, July at ¥209.2 and the contract for delivery in August 2015 closed at ¥208.7 a kg.

To read Rubber4U – 15th March 2015 issue: http://rubber4u.com/Public/Abcd.pdf
For Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights visit: www.rubber4u.com

Friday, March 6, 2015

Stakeholder should work together for betterment of industry


Speakers at India Rubber Meet 2015 were of view that stakeholders should take a collaborative approach and adoption of new technologies to tide over problems being faced by rubber industry and should work together for betterment of the industry.

K.T. Thomas, former president, All India Rubber Industries Association, said the present phase of low prices for natural rubber was the opportune time for replanting rubber. The rubber prices would go up after some time, as the past trend showed cyclic changes, while growers should focus on quality produce.

The benchmark RSS4 grade rubber closed at `.138 a kg at Kottayam, while RSS3 grade closed at `.114.48 a kg at Bangkok and Malaysian SMR20 closed at `.88.45 a kg. On National Multi Commodity Exchange March 2015 futures closed at `.123.72 a kg, April at `.125.22 and May at `.126.45 a kg. On Tokyo Commodity Exchange, March 2015 futures series closed at ¥216.3 a kg, April at ¥215.6, May at ¥215.5, June at ¥213, July at ¥210.8 and the contract for delivery in August 2015 closed at ¥209.9 a kg.

To read Rubber4U – 15th March 2015 issue: http://rubber4u.com/Public/Abcd.pdf
For Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights visit: www.rubber4u.com

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

India Rubber Meet 2015


Today, G Madhavan Nair, former chairman of the ISRO and chairman of the Centre for Management Development will inaugurate the two-day India Rubber Meet 2015, organised jointly by the Rubber Board and other stakeholders association, at Le Meridien Convention Centre, Kerala.

The theme of meet is ‘Finite Resources: Infinite Opportunities’, which will explore the the commercial opportunities of rubber, including the auxiliary activities. It will also examine the green agenda, referring to new sustainability goals. Experts from different areas of rubber cultivation and industry will speak on areas such as the economics of rubber cultivation and industry, technical issues, and new breakthroughs in research.

Experts and key stakeholders from different segments of the rubber industry across the world will participate in the panel discussions. The Panel discussions will be chaired by A Jayathilak, chairman, Rubber Board of India; and A K Krishnakumar, executive director, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, New Delhi.

India is expected to import about 425,000 tonnes of natural rubber in the current financial year. The gap between domestic and overseas prices will ensure higher imports.
Reserve Bank of India today cut repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% from 7.75%. The move comes on the back of lower inflation. The cut in the policy rate by RBI will help in lowering interest rate for individual and corporate borrowers.

The benchmark RSS4 grade rubber closed at `.139.65 a kg at Kottayam, while RSS3 grade closed at `.116.37 a kg at Bangkok and Malaysian SMR20 closed at `.87.50 a kg. On National Multi Commodity Exchange March 2015 futures closed at `.124.17 a kg, April at `.125.33 and May at `.126.81 a kg. On Tokyo Commodity Exchange, March 2015 futures series closed at ¥221.3 a kg, April at ¥221.6, May at ¥222.9, June at ¥221.2, July at ¥219.6 and the contract for delivery in August 2015 closed at ¥219.5 a kg.

To read Rubber4U – 1st March 2015 issue: http://rubber4u.com/Public/Abcd.pdf
For Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights visit: www.rubber4u.com