According to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), world production of natural rubber (NR) has experienced a fall of 10.1%, amounting to 1.080 million metric tons in January 2019 on a year-to-year basis.
This may have resulted from the recent tropical storm reported in the southern part of Thailand, which is the major NR producing province in the country. In contrast, world demand for NR saw an increase of 1.3% to 1.151 million metric tons during the same reference period.
Favorable market fundamental sentiments and the price rally in the crude oil market have further supported the recovery in NR prices across physical and futures markets in January 2019. Futhermore, positive news reported over the trade talks progress between the USA and China and the determination from OPEC members over their production cuts have made commodities prices stay firmer over this period.
