Archive for September, 2008
TOKYO, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures briefly rose more than 2 percent on Thursday reflecting a strong performance in gold and crude oil, but they later pared gains as gold sank into negative territory.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery <0#JRU:> closed the morning at 288.0 yen per kg, after earlier touching a high of 292.7 yen, up 2.3 percent. The morning’s low was 286.3 yen.
* Tokyo rubber futures were rising on the strength of gold, rather than any fresh incentives of its own, said Koji Suzuki, a senior analyst at SBI Futures Co Ltd.
* “Gold’s rise comes from a flight-to-quality, but this does not apply to rubber’s climb, which should be seen as simply tracking the precious metal’s rise,” he said.
* Traders have said that there is some strength in rubber’s fundamentals, such as supply tightness, but this has fallen to the wayside in the face of the global financial woes that have rocked commodities markets.
* Spot gold gave up earlier gains and fell below $860 per ounce on Thursday, after earlier rising more than 3 percent to a six-week high.
* U.S. crude for October delivery was mostly unchanged around $97 a barrel, a day after surging by $6 lifted by a decline in weekly U.S. crude stocks and a wave of buying in some commodities. [O/R]
* The dollar was around 104.43 yen after dropping as low as 104.13 yen on trading platform EBS earlier in the session, in sight of a four-month low of 103.54 yen hit on Tuesday. [USD/]
PRICES OF ASIAN PHYSICAL RUBBER COMPARED WITH WEDNESDAY
Grade Price Change
Thai RSS3 (Oct) $2.85/kg -$0.09
Thai RSS3 (Nov) $2.85/kg -$0.09
Thai STR20 (Oct) $2.85/kg -$0.05
Thai STR20 (Nov) $2.85/kg -$0.05
Malaysia SMR20 (Oct) $2.82/kg -$0.08
Malaysia SMR20 (Nov) $2.82/kg -$0.08
Indonesia SIR20 (Oct) $1.27/lb -$0.04
Indonesia SIR20 (Nov) $1.27/lb -$0.04
Thai USS3 91 baht/kg -2 bahts
Thai 60-percent latex (drums, Oct) $1,990/tonne -$50
Thai 60-percent latex (bulk, Oct) $1,850/tonne -$50
Source: Reuters
TOKYO, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures rose 2 percent on Wednesday as reports that insurer American International Group would be rescued allayed growing financial fears and helped the dollar rise against the yen.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery <0#JRU:> rose 2.1 percent to as high as 292.4 yen per kg, but later eased to 290.1 yen at 0135 GMT.
* The benchmark contract had closed down by its 16-yen daily limit at 286.4 yen per kg on Tuesday, a decline of 5.3 percent from Friday’s close and a near five-month low. TOCOM was closed on Monday for a national holiday.
* The dollar jumped to 106.50 yen , extending Tuesday’s sharp rise from a four-month low of 103.54 yen, after reports that the Federal Reserve would rescue insurer AIG. [USD/]
* Reports that AIG was likely to avoid bankruptcy also helped lift crude oil with U.S. crude for October delivery rising more than $3 to above $94 a barrel. [O/R]
Source: Reuters
[Dow Jones] Tocom rubber futures settle sharply lower, with most contracts at daily lower limits, benchmark at 5-month low, in line with other commodities, notably crude oil while surge in value of yen vs dollar adds further pressure, says trader in Tokyo. Adds market likely to find minor support only at Y280/kg, with Y266/kg looking probable, though that level also not seen as strong support if crude oil continues its decline. Benchmark February RSS3 contract settles Y16 lower at Y286.4/kg. (ANJ)
Source: Dow Jones Newswires
BANGKOK, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Thai rubber exports are getting back to normal after a 2-1/2-week disruption caused by rail strikes, but trading remains subdued as high prices are keeping buyers on the sidelines, exporters said on Monday.
Rail unions that had disrupted services in support of anti-government protests formally called off their action on Sunday.
“Everything is okay after the rail strike ended,” said a Thai exporter at the Hat Yai rubber centre.
Several thousand tonnes of rubber sheet and block rubber sold for September shipment were delayed by the strikes, which started on Aug. 26, slowing down rubber movements in the south.
Thai exporters usually deliver rubber from factories in the south, the key rubber-growing area, by train, sending it to Malaysia where the cargo is loaded on to ships at Penang. Some switched deliveries to trucks because of the strike.
“The rubber trade should get back to normal this week as using rail routes should help exporters in reducing logistics costs,” one trader said.
However, trading was not busy as most buyers were still on the sidelines, expecting prices to drop, traders said.
Scattered rain in the south had disrupted tapping, resulting in higher prices, traders said.
Thai unsmoked sheet (USS3), the raw material for export-grade rubber sheet (RSS3), was quoted at 95 baht ($2.75) per kg, slightly higher than last week’s 94 baht, they said.
“Prices should drop slightly if TOCOM prices slide in line with oil prices, but I don’t expect to see a significant drop as we are still in the rainy season,” one trader said. The wet season in the south usually runs until late October.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for February delivery <0#JRU:>, which sets the global trend, settled at 302.4 yen ($2.84) per kg on Friday.
The Tokyo market was closed on Monday for a public holiday. Trading will resume on Tuesday and traders expected futures prices to fall in line with oil prices, which tumbled to a six-month low below $100 a barrel on Sunday.
At 0419 GMT, U.S. crude oil was at $99.16 a barrel.
Weaker oil prices usually encourage tyre makers to shift to synthetic rubber, a petroleum product, from natural rubber, and that could trigger stop-loss selling on TOCOM. ($1=34.52 Baht)
Source: Reuters
TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures closed above the psychologically important 300-yen mark on Friday, supported by firmer crude oil prices and strong fundamentals.
* Concerns about supplies due to prolonged rain in Thailand, the world’s biggest rubber producer, and other countries in the region, is still outweighing worries about a possible decline in tyre demand due to falling car sales.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February 2009 delivery <0#JRU:> ended at 302.4 yen per kg after earlier rising as high as 303.6 yen, up 0.7 percent from Thursday. The trough was 300.0 yen.