Rubber climbed to near a two-week high as the world’s three-largest producers begin a three-day meeting to discuss measures to support prices.
The contract for delivery in September gained as much as 0.9 percent to 278.4 yen a kilogram ($2,812 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, nearing the highest level since March 28 reached yesterday. Futures traded at 277.2 yen at 11:13 a.m., paring this year’s losses to 8.4 percent.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, the top producers representing 70 percent of global output, meet today through April 12 in Phuket to discuss price support measures, including extending export reductions, according to Thai Deputy Farm Minister Yuttapong Charasathien. Thailand, which decided to extend curbs on shipments by 60 days to the end of May, is expected to ask the other nations to join the move, said Hideshi Matsunaga, an analyst at broker ACE Koeki Co. in Tokyo.
“The market is supported by expectations for coordinated actions by the three producers,” he said today by phone.
The three Asian nations agreed to cut exports by 300,000 tons in the six months through March after futures in Tokyo slumped to a three-year low of 205.6 yen in August 2012.
The contract for delivery in September added 1.4 percent to 21,985 yuan ($3,549) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Thai rubber free-on-board gained 0.6 percent to 82.25 baht ($2.84) a kilogram yesterday, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand. Price touched 81.75 baht on April 5, the lowest level since November 2009, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Source: Bloomberg
