The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) has released its monthly trends forecast. The Natural Rubber Trends January 2021 report predicts that rubber demand will remain subdued, with its latest figures for 2020 showing that production peaked at 12,783,000 metric tons, while demand hit 12,827,000 metric tons (6.9% down on 2019). It was, however, notable that production figures ended up higher than previously forecast thanks to better than expected production in Thailand, Cambodia and India.
Despite a strong upward trend in the crude oil market, the natural rubber markets in January 2021 were volatile, though prices for NR improved by 0.6% compared with December 2020.
The ANRPC also notes that upward revisions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to global economic forecasts should boost consumer confidence which may be advantageous to other commodities markets.
