Rubber Market Ends Mixed

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian rubber market ended mixed today amidst an uptrend in regional rubber futures markets and gains in crude oil prices, a dealer said.

He said market sentiment was also lifted by optimism over the latest progress on United States (US)-China trade talks and improved Chinese economic data. 

“Japanese rubber futures rose today as US and Chinese officials are set to resume trade talks for a second day in London,” he said.

It was reported that China's exports had surged 12.4 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) and 8.1 per cent in March and April, respectively, while imports dropped 3.4 per cent y-o-y, as factories rushed shipments to the US and other overseas manufacturers to avoid US President Donald Trump's hefty levies on China and the rest of the world.

Nevertheless, further gains were capped by weaker US economic data, he noted.

“US seaborne imports of goods from China dropped 28.5 per cent year-over-year in May, the sharpest decline since the pandemic as Trump's 145 per cent tariff took hold.

“Overall, US seaborne imports in May tumbled 7.2 per cent from the year earlier to 2.18 million,” he said.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) rose by 11.5 sen to 706.50 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk dropped by 5.0 sen to 590.50 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA