Rubber fell from a two-week high after data showed stockpiles in China swelled to a nine-year high, boosting concern that demand from the largest user is waning.
The contract for delivery in April on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange lost as much as 1.1 percent to 259.3 yen a kilogram ($2,586 a metric ton) and traded at 261.5 yen at 11:05 a.m. local time. Futures on Nov. 15 settled at 262.1 yen, the highest close since Oct. 30.
Stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange expanded 6.1 percent to 163,604 tons last week, the highest level since November 2004. China represented 35 percent of global demand last year, according to the International Rubber Study Group.
“Concerns about demand weighed on the market,” said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at research company Market Risk Advisory in Tokyo.
Rubber for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.2 percent to 19,120 yuan($3,140) a ton. Thai rubber free-on-board added 0.3 percent to 78.85 baht ($2.50) a kilogram on Nov. 15, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.
Source: Bloomberg
