ANRPC's latest July report predicts that in 2021, global natural rubber production is expected to increase by 5.2% year-on-year to 13.782 million tons. Among them, Thailand increased by 6.9%, Indonesia increased by 2.8%, China increased by 18.5%, India increased by 13.9%, Vietnam decreased slightly by 0.3%, and Malaysia increased by 3%. Compared with the June forecast, Malaysia's production has been revised down by 30,000 tons.

Global natural rubber production is expected to increase by 7.1% to 1.216 million tons in July. Among them, Thailand increased by 18.5%, Indonesia increased by 6.2%, Vietnam decreased by 15.1%, and Malaysia increased by 7.7%.

With the relaxation of global containment measures, major economies are showing signs of recovery, which will result in global natural rubber consumption expected to increase by 7.2% year-on-year to 13.9 million tons in 2021. Among them, China increased by 2%, India increased by 10.5%, Thailand decreased by 10%, and Malaysia decreased slightly by 0.5%.

Global natural rubber consumption is expected to increase by 5.4% to 1.146 million tons in July. Among them, China fell 1.7%, India fell 6.8%, Thailand fell 12.3%, and Malaysia fell 11.1%.

In July, natural rubber spot market prices fluctuated. However, compared with the same period last year, the market for standard rubber, smoked sheet rubber and latex all showed signs of recovery. In terms of standard rubber, the average daily FOB price of STR20 has risen from US$1.28 per kilogram in July 2020 to US$1.61 per kilogram in July 2021. The average price of SMR20 is US$1.64 per kilogram, an increase of US$0.45 from July 2020.

In terms of tobacco sheet glue, compared with July 2020, the deviation of the average daily FOB price between Bangkok RSS3 and India RSS4 in July 2021 has increased. In July 2020, it was US$0.16 per kilogram, and in July 2021, it was increased to US$0.42 per kilogram. Due to the high demand for latex products including gloves during the pandemic, the price of latex in Kuala Lumpur has also increased from US$1.11 per kilogram in July 2020 to US$1.20 per kilogram in July 2021.

In view of the fact that rubber is an indispensable commodity in all walks of life, especially its latex products used in the medical field to fight this virus. Although the natural rubber market is affected by other external factors, such as the growth of other commodity markets, oil, global economy, etc., good natural rubber market fundamentals may offset its adverse effects.