Analyst expects rise in NR prices despite slower consumption growth

London – Natural rubber (NR) prices would rise as a result of tightening stocks and currency appreciation, despite a slowdown in rubber consumption, a leading rubber market analyst has forecast.

In a first-quarter market review, Rubber Economist editor Dr Prachaya Jumpasut noted that NR output declined last year, with five out of the top six largest producing countries, decreasing production.

The five were Thailand, Indonesia, China, India and Malaysia. Only the production in Vietnam, the third largest producing country, increased marginally in 2014.

Jumpasut, therefore, predicted that the declining stocks consumption ratio, if coupled with the turnaround in the appreciation of the US dollar, should push NR prices up.

The upward price trend, added the analyst, would happen despite an expected slowdown in the growth of rubber consumption from a sharp rise in in 2014.