LONDON—Natural rubber prices across key physical and futures markets remained subdued during the two weeks to July 2, with some markets performing more strongly than the others.
All Far East markets monitored by ERJ over the two-week period posted a decline, with RSS3 nearby prices falling 6.9 percent in Osaka.
The most active rubber contract for September delivery in Shanghai posted a marginal weekly average decline of 0.7 percent during the period, while slowing rubber gloves demand saw latex prices continue to tumble.
Prices generally remained subdued or bearish during the second week of June, except for a limited number of days between June 22-25, according to a July 5 report by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries.
The bearish trends were mostly due to the global resurgence of COVID-19, particularly the Delta variant and poor vaccination rates globally, ANRPC's bi-weekly NR trends analysis said.
A slowdown in China's manufacturing activity in June also impacted rubber prices.
Citing a private survey, ANRPC said China's Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 51.3 in June from 52.0 in May, due mainly to supply chain disruptions caused by the resurgence of COVID-19 in Guangdong province.
Global logistics disruptions, higher ocean freight costs, shipping delays, chip shortages, automotive slowdowns, a stronger dollar and the increase in supply of natural rubber all had a negative impact the price trends across the markets.
According to ANRPC, NR prices are not expected to make a noticeable recovery in the short-term despite rising demand from the U.S., Europe and India.
