Physical rubber trade kicked off 2012 with most grades changing hands in small lots as China, the biggest rubber buyer, was absent from the market, traders said on Wednesday. Thailand, the world's biggest rubber producer and exporter, resumed trading on Wednesday after a New Year holiday with its export-grade smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) traded at $3.33-$3.35 per kg, dealers said.
Indonesian SIR20 block rubber grade was traded at $1.48 per lb, a Singapore-based trader said. "Indian buyers were active this week while Chinese buyers were absent, so trading was not very busy," said another trader in Singapore.Chinese buyers were buying rubber from its inland warehouses as domestic inventories were up.
Shanghai rubber stocks rose 4.3 percent at the end of 2011, according to the Shanghai rubber futures exchange. The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) said in a report it expected rubber demand to remain sluggish in the first quarter of 2012 due to the European debt crisis, while overall rubber output was expected to rise 3.1 percent from 2011. "I can sell only small lots of around 200-500 tonnes of rubber per contract as demand is not very strong and we also don't have many rubber sheets to sell due to the floods," said a trader in Thailand.
THAI FLOOD DISRUPTS TRADE Heavy monsoon rain has hit Thailand's south, the major rubber area, causing flash floods in several rubber areas that cut off roads and disrupted tapping, said a provincial Agriculture Ministry official.
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