Rubber Market Likely To Stay Muted Amid US Tariff Uncertainty

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, June 14 (Bernama) -- The local rubber market is expected to stay muted with a sideways trend leaning towards further weakness.

Industry expert Denis Low said global economic uncertainties persist due to the unresolved United States (US) tariffs, which remain on a 90-day pause.

“It is going to be a challenging economic situation for the world as the big impact of the earlier tariffs is yet to be resolved.

“As such, we are going to see a slowdown in many sectors of industries across the globe, and for sure, rubber and rubber products will be affected,” he told Bernama.

Low hopes that the US and China can both spearhead a more regimented and regulated tariff policy for every nation, especially commodity producers.

Yesterday, Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM) reported that natural rubber has decreased 31.7 per cent to 35,901 tonnes in April 2025 from 52,531 tonnes in March 2025, reflecting weaker foreign demand for Malaysian rubber.

Meanwhile, another dealer said prices are expected to continue tracking the performance of regional rubber futures markets, the strength of the ringgit against the US dollar and benchmark crude oil prices.

She said market participants will closely monitor the release of key global economic data, developments related to US trade negotiations, and progress of US-China trade talks while keeping an eye on the latest updates surrounding geopolitical escalation in the Middle East.

For the week just ended, the Kuala Lumpur rubber market traded mixed.

On a week-to-week basis, the Malaysian Rubber Board’s reference price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) rose by 11.25 sen to 703 sen per kilogramme (kg), while latex in bulk decreased by 20.13 sen to 587 sen per kg.

-- BERNAMA