Over 35% drop in June rubber production, prices surge

Sri Lanka recorded a severe drop in rubber production in June this year with plantations reporting over a 35 per cent reduction.
Forbes and Walkers reported that this reduction was recorded as a result of the continuous spread of the Pestalotiopsis throughout the rubber planting regions in addition to the continuous wet weather that disrupted tapping operations.
Latex Crepe 1x and Is were in good demand, the report stated adding that prices moved up from Rs.625 to Rs.690 by end June. No.2s and 3s remained steady as well, whilst No.4s gained ground by approximately Rs.50 per kilo during this period.
Firm demand prevailed for all grades of Scrap crepes, with most sort after grade 3x Browns moving up by approximately Rs.30 per kilo.
Poor volumes of RSS came in to the market during this period, since majority of rubber smallholders were unable to carry out tapping due to wet weather, whilst some who managed to harvest opted to trade field latex in liquid form due to the weaker demand for RSS, since many local industries offered lower prices as they had the option of importing Sheet rubber and substitute grades at discounted price levels. (SD)