LONDON (Feb. 14, 2011)—Natural rubber prices set new records over the weekend on supply fears, and the head of an NR producer organization said they could rise more in the first half of 2011.
At Tokyo's Tocom commodity exchange the benchmark six-month price for NR hit $6.27 per kilogram, and closed at $6.21 in Feb. 14 trading. Contacts for March delivery hit $6.41 per kg.
Short-dated RSS3 grade rubber rose as high as $6.40 in Singapore before falling to $6.20 at the close. Short-dated TSR20 also closed up slightly higher, at $5.73 per kg. Indian prices rose slightly to $5.55 a kg. for May delivery
Meanwhile, Yium Tavarolit, head of the International Rubber Consortium ,said that NR prices could continue to rise as major rubber-producing countries enter the low-output wintering season and low interest rates push liquidity into commodities markets.
“The root problem is too much cheap money,” Yium said.