SMR 20 Ends Higher On Concerns Over Natural Rubber Supply

By Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 (Bernama) -- Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) closed higher today amid concerns over natural rubber (NR) supply due to wet weather, said a dealer.

She said market sentiment was also lifted by China’s efforts to boost its economy and the positive NR projections released by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC).

“The Thai meteorological agency has continued to warn of heavy rains which may cause flash floods and overflows in Thailand from Jan 27-28, 2025,” she told Bernama.

Citing ANRPC’s December 2024 NR statistical report, she said global NR production last year was estimated to increase by 2.8 per cent to 14.29 million tonnes while global NR demand for 2024 was expected to rise by 1.8 per cent to 15.45 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, she noted that China had announced plans to channel hundreds of billions of yuan annually into shares from state-owned insurers in coordinated moves that underlined Beijing’s intent to prop up stock markets.

She added that China would also grant foreign financial institutions the same treatment as domestic ones in offering new types of financial services not yet available in the country within certain free trade zones.

The Malaysian Rubber Board reported that at 3 pm, the price of SMR 20 increased by 13 sen to 899.5 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk slipped by one sen to 679 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA