TOKYO (Jan 31): The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) said on Tuesday it has requested its member brokers to submit reports detailing their customers’ positions on rubber futures contracts after prices rose sharply over the past weeks.
TOCOM issued the notice on Monday and members are required to respond by Wednesday, a spokesman told Reutersby phone.
“We have requested our members to report on their customers’ outstanding rubber contracts as of Monday to grasp the situation after prices surged,” a TOCOM spokesman said.
Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures jumped 6.1% on Monday to hit their highest level since September 2011, amid low inventories in Japan and supply worries in the wake of floods in Thailand. By midday Tuesday, however, they had plunged more than 5% from the previous day’s close.
Still, TOCOM rubber futures have jumped 26% this month, with prices surging more than 12% just on Friday and Monday.
“There have been some powerful speculative buys which have bolstered prices in the TOCOM over the past two sessions despite the absence of Chinese speculators who have led a rally in Shanghai and Tokyo rubber markets since late last year,” a Tokyo-based dealer said.
Chinese markets closed on Friday for the start of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in China.
Benchmark TOCOM rubber futures have posted five straight months gains through January, more than doubling since the end of August.
