LONDON—It might not have been by much, but after several weeks of market declines natural rubber prices finally managed to inch upward.
Shanghai Future Exchange prices for September trades closed at about $1,983 per ton on July 17, a 1.2 percent increase week-over-week.
October contracts for natural rubber also entered positive territory among Chinese dealers, lifting 0.6 percent to about $1,941 per ton.
On the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the back month price for natural rubber came in at Yen208.8 as of July 15—1 percent lower than a week earlier.
Optimists in Tokyo pointed out that the decline was less sharp that the 3.7 percent drop seen in the previous seven-day period.
In Bangkok, prices for RSS3 grade rubber edged up by 0.5 percent in the seven days to July 17.
On the Kuala Lumpur exchange, prices for SMR20 registered an even slighter 0.3 percent week-on-week rise to finish at $145.10 per 100 kilograms on July 17.
The general stabilization was being linked to reports of a drop in production due to poor weather, as well as continuing efforts by exporting countries to tackle oversupply in the natural rubber markets.