Asian physical rubber was quoted mostly unchanged on Wednesday as sluggish demand offset small rises of futures contract prices on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Physical trade was thin with most buyers on year-end holidays, traders said.
"The market was very quiet as there were only a few Chinese buyers shopping around for January shipment," one trader said. Small lots of Indonesian SIR20 were sold at $1.10 per lb for prompt shipment to dealers in Singapore, an Indonesian trader said. "We could not commit big lots due to falling supply as rains fall every day," he said.
Floods were receding gradually in Thailand and Malaysia, the biggest and third-biggest producers, and supply should get back to normal in January, traders said. But in Indonesia, the second-biggest producer, the rainy season is due to continue through April and tapping will be disrupted until it is over.