Domestic natural rubber spot prices rose in February 2019
In the domestic market, the average price of all latex in Shanghai and Shandong in February was 11,358 yuan per ton, up 3.5% from the previous month and down 2.2% year-on-year; the average price of mixed rubber in Shandong was 11,123 yuan per ton, up 3.4% from the previous month and up 1.1% year-on-year. In Southeast Asia, the average price of RSS3 in Thailand was US$1,590 per ton, up 6.1% from the previous month and down 5.9% year-on-year. The average price of SIR20 in Indonesia was US$1,340 per ton, down 0.9% from the previous month and down 4.3% from the previous year. The average price of SMR20 in Malaysia was US$1,396 per ton. The chain rose by 4.3%, down 6.2% year-on-year.
Natural rubber futures prices rose
In February, the average price of the Shanghai Futures Exchange’s main contract (1905) this month was 1,090 yuan per ton, up 4.4% from the previous month and down 5.0% year-on-year. On the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the main contract for rubber (1907) settled at an average price of 192.2 yen per kilogram (US$1,740 per ton), up 5.5% from the previous month and up 1.3% year-on-year.
In February 2019, the national synthetic rubber production exceeded 900,000 tons.
According to the statistics of the “China Rubber Products Industry Market Demand Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning Analysis Report” published by the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the national synthetic rubber production showed an increasing trend in the 2-4 quarters of 2018, and China’s synthetic rubber output was 496,000 in December 2018. Tons, an increase of 4.9% year-on-year. In terms of accumulation, the cumulative output of synthetic rubber in China from January to December 2018 was 5.59 million tons, a cumulative increase of 7.1%. In the first two months of 2019, the national synthetic rubber output was 935,000 tons, down 0.3% year-on-year.
In February 2019, China’s imports of natural and synthetic rubber totaled nearly one million tons.
China’s imports of natural and synthetic rubber increased gradually in the first four quarters of 2018. In February 2019, China’s natural and synthetic rubber imports were 371,000 tons, down 1.9% year-on-year. China’s imports of natural and synthetic rubber reached 990,000 tons in January-February 2019, a decrease of 7.9% compared with the same period last year.
In terms of import value, the import value of natural and synthetic rubber in China increased gradually in the first four quarters of 2018. In February 2019, the import value of natural and synthetic rubber in China was US$551.3 million, down 15.5% year-on-year.
