No end in sight yet to soaring prices: Analyst

KUALA LUMPUR: Supply fears and to some extent panic buying resulted in Malaysian commodities like rubber and tin touching record high prices for three consecutive days.

According to an analyst, commodity prices will continue to be on an upward trend as it has become a pattern among all commodities, especially with crude oil prices hitting new high.  He said there was no end in sight yet to the soaring prices.

For rubber, SMR 20 is set to test the 930 sen per kg level today and 955 sen per kg level by next week, the analyst said.

Local rubber prices are likely to take the cue from regional markets like Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand which are currently booming due to supply concerns and strong bidding, he said.

Singapore’s SMR 20 touched a high of 937 sen per kg while prices went up to 924 sen per kg in Indonesia and 931 sen per kg in Thailand.

“Rubber prices will continue to rise following strong overseas demand, especially from tyre and rubber glove manufacturers,” the analyst said.

“Now, there are many buyers in the market but supplies are very limited,” he said.

Another factor that pushed up rubber prices was rising crude oil prices, the analyst said, adding that players started to shift to natural rubber as the oil prices climbed.  Tyre-grade SMR 20 hit a new all-time high of 923 sen per kg yesterday, up 13 sen from yesterday’s 910 sen per kg, while latex in bulk also touched a new high of 607.50 sen per kg, increasing seven sen from 600.50 sen previously.

Meanwhile, tin price on the Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) also hit an all-time high again today, rising by US$130 to settle at US$25,230 per tonne on supply fears.  Players in the local tin market will continue to monitor the London Metal Exchange performance for direction, dealers said. — Bernama