Last Friday we reported natural rubber latex was trading at 637 sen/kg.  Today, the trading price has jumped to 666.50–a 5% increase from just one week ago, according to the Malaysian Rubber Board.  Supplies from the world’s eight largest producers had fallen by 6.4% for the year as of November 2009 (Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries).  In Malaysia and Thailand, the world’s two largest natural rubber producing countries, 2009 production was off by 25% and 10% respectively.

Despite reports that many latex glove manufacturers have already issued price increases, more may be on the way.  Natural rubber latex prices are typically a lagging indicator of latex glove prices, since most manufacturers stock at least 30 days of raw materials.