THE Malaysian rubber market is expected to continue its uptrend next week supported by higher crude oil prices. A dealer said rising crude oil prices will make synthetic rubber, a product of crude oil, costlier. “Higher crude oil prices will lend support to the market despite increased fears that Japan’s disaster could disrupt automobile manufacture and supply from key producing countries,” he added.
For the just-ended week, rubber prices mostly tracked movements on Tokyo and the Shanghai futures markets. Tyre-grade SMR 20 surged 134.5 sen to 1,528 sen per kg, from 1,393.5 sen per kg previously, while latex-in-bulk increased 145.5 sen to 1,042 sen per kg on Friday, from 896.5 sen per kg, recorded previously.