Rubber Market Closes Higher Tracking Regional Gains, Oil Price Rally

By Danni Haizal Danial Donald

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur rubber market ended higher on Monday, supported by the uptrend in regional rubber futures markets, coupled with a rally in crude oil prices, said a dealer.

The dealer said rubber prices also remain supported due to stronger Chinese economic data.

“However, further gains were limited by concerns of escalating conflicts in the Middle East and a slowing global economy especially among the rubber consuming nations,” she told Bernama.

She said Japanese rubber futures advanced on Monday as oil prices surged amid the ongoing Middle East conflict, with the most active Shanghai butadiene rubber contract hitting the upper limit, while strong fundamentals and a weaker Japanese yen also lent support. 

“Oil prices jumped as much as 30 per cent in Asian trade today, reaching levels last seen in 2022 as the growing war between the US, Israel and Iran sparked heightened concerns over supply disruptions in the coming months,” she said.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil price jumped 15.71 per cent to US$107.25 a barrel. 

Furthermore, she added that China’s consumer price index inflation rose more than expected in February at 1.3 per cent year-on-year aided by increased holiday spending during the month, while producer prices continued to decline, albeit at a slower than expected pace at 0.9 per cent.

At 3 pm, the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 increased 10.5 sen to 793 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex-in-bulk gained eight sen to 656 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA