TOKYO, Feb 24 (Reuters) – Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 4.3 percent on Monday, reflecting sharp declines in Shanghai futures amid concerns about high inventory in main consumer China.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for July delivery fell 9.7 yen to settle at 217.2 yen ($2.12) per kg.
The contract fell as much as 5 percent to an intraday low of 215.5 on Monday, the lowest since Feb. 7.
“Today is the expiry data for February contract, and I think we saw lots of deals related to roll-overs in contracts,” a Tokyo-based broker said.
“TOCOM rubber’s sharp falls were triggered by Shanghai declines.” Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange were little changed last week, though still near the highest level since 2004. (SNR-TOTAL-DW) The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 780 yuan to finish at 14,805 yuan ($2,400) per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for March delivery last traded at 184 U.S. cents per kg, down 6.5 cents.
($1 = 102.6750 Japanese yen)
($1 = 6.0914 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
Reuters
