Floods push up palm oil, rubber prices

A Thai villager rowing a boat in floodwaters near Thai-Malaysia border in Narathiwat on Monday. Rubber supplies in Thailand and Malaysia will contract by at least 100,000 tonnes a month if floods persist, according to International Rubber Consortirm. – AFP

BANGKOK: Rubber entered a bull market and palm oil headed for the longest run of gains in more than a decade as flooding across Malaysia and parts of Thailand hurt supplies of both commodities and forecasters predicted more rain.

Rubber for June delivery rallied 3.9% to 213.3 yen a kg (US$1,773 a tonne) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the highest settlement since July 3. Futures rose 22% from a five-year low in October, meeting the threshold for a bull market with a gain of at least 20%. Palm oil climbed for a ninth day in Kuala Lumpur to head for the longest run of gains since 2002, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.