TOKYO (April 12): Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended higher on Thursday buoyed by firm oil prices, however, gains were curbed by sluggish Shanghai futures and on concerns over high inventories.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for rubber prices in Southeast Asia, got support as oil markets remained tense on concerns over a military escalation in Syria, although prices were way off Wednesday’s late-2014 highs.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery finished 1.1 yen higher at 183 yen (US$1.71) per kg.
High rubber stockpiles in consumers such as China and Japan weighed on the market.
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 14,999 tonnes as of March 31, down 0.3% from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Thursday.
“The excess rubber stockpiles are piling up the stress on the producers,” said a Japanese trading source.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery dropped 65 yuan to finish 11,480 yuan (US$1,828) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for May delivery last traded at 138.1 US cents per kg, up 0.1 cent.
(US$1 = 106.8700 yen)
(US$1 = 6.2812 Chinese yuan)
