Kuala lumpur: The Kuala Lumpur rubber market closed higher on Tuesday, lifted by ongoing concerns over natural rubber (NR) supply in Thailand, the world’s largest rubber producer, a dealer said.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Thailand’s meteorological agency has issued a warning of thundershowers and heavy accumulated rainfall from December 4-7, which could affect rubber production. Meanwhile, rubber statistics from the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) also supported higher prices, despite a firmer ringgit against the US dollar and mixed regional rubber futures markets.

ANRPC expects global natural rubber production to rise modestly by 1.3 percent in 2025 to 14.892 million tonnes, while NR demand is expected to grow by 0.8 percent in 2025 to 15.565 million tonnes, much higher compared to production. However, further gains were limited by steady crude oil prices and mixed global manufacturing data.

At 3 pm, the Malaysian Rubber Board reported that the price of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) 20 rose by 7.5 sen to 728 sen per kilogram, while latex-in-bulk remained unchanged at 577 sen per kg.