Rubber in Tokyo extended losses for a fourth day as concerns grew that abundant supply in Chinawill slow purchases from the largest consumer.
The contract for delivery in June on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell as much as 1.4 percent to 246 yen a kilogram ($2,357 a metric ton), the lowest level for a most-active contract since Aug. 8. Futures traded at 247.9 yen at 10:37 a.m. local time.
Growth in China, the second-largest economy, will decelerate to 7.5 percent this year and 7.3 percent in 2015 from 7.7 percent in 2013, the International Monetary Fund forecasts. Stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 5.6 percent to 200,815 tons, the largest since October 2004, data from the bourse showed on Jan. 17. It was the seventh straight week of gains.
“The outlook for an economic slowdown in China may spur buyers to reduce rubber purchases as stockpiles in the nation are already large,” said Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at JSC Corp., a research company in Tokyo.
Rubber for May delivery on the Shanghai exchange added 0.5 percent to 16,505 yuan ($2,727) a ton. Rubber free-on-board was unchanged at 77.25 baht ($2.35) a kilogram yesterday, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.
Bloomberg
