The Malaysian rubber market is expected to fall further next week due to sluggish demand and uncertainties in the global economy.

A dealer said demand was expected to be slower on news that Japanese carmakers would keep its Thai factories suspended due to shortage of parts.

Floods have spread across 64 of Thailand's 77 provinces and swamped seven industrial estates where Honda and auto-parts makers have factories.

Meanwhile, dealers said the rainy season in most rubber producing countries would not disrupt supply as China's Qingdao port had a high stockpile of some 180,000 metric tonnes.

Buyers were expected to remain on the sidelines, anticipating further weakness in prices, they said.

This week, the Malaysian Rubber Board's official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 declined 94.0 sen to 1,137.0 sen per kg while latex in bulk fell 35.0 sen to 758.5 sen per kg.

The unofficial closing price for SMR 20 slipped 89.5 sen to 1,136.5 sen per kg while latex in bulk dropped 37.0 sen to 757.5 sen per kg. -- Bernama