PETALING JAYA: Malaysian rubber grade SMR 20 and latex-in-bulk are expected to trade higher in the mid-term as demand for natural rubber picks up due to soaring crude oil prices which makes synthetic rubber more expensive, dealers said.

A dealer said local tyre-grade SMR 20 could hit RM7 per kg if crude oil price stayed above US$70 per barrel within the next two weeks as “many international tyre makers will switch to natural rubber from synthetic rubber to control their cost.”