ANRPC: Concern over China weighing down NR prices

Kuala Lumpur – Global demand for natural rubber outstripped supply by 874 kilotonnes (kt) over the nine month to 30 Sept, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) has reported.

While worldwide production grew at 1.5% year-on-year to 9,779kt, consumption grew by only 6.6% to 10,653kt, according to the ANRPC’s latest Natural Rubber Trends & Statistics.

However, the changed supply/demand balance did not benefit suppliers, as physical rubber prices remained low, the association’s secretary-general Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Bich noted in a 19 Oct statement.

“The high inventory in the Shanghai Rubber Exchange and the warehouses in Qingdao Free Trade zone and other external factors have kept the sentiments down in NR market,” he said.

Despite some signs of recovery around mid-September 2018, the ANRPC leader pointed in particular to concerns about a slowdown in the Chinese economy due to the on-going US-China trade-war.