This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 9:05 pm and is filed under Rubber News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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.
* Rubber is looking relatively steady compared to other commodities, and this is because it is drawing support from fundamentals, such as the lack of physical supplies, a Tokyo-based broker said.
* “I see the fact that it has managed to hang on to the 300 yen level as proof that TOCOM rubber is in fact quite firm,” he said.
* The trader also noted that the relatively steep backwardation in the market, typically an indication that supplies are tight, was also helping support the whole TOCOM rubber market.
* Japan’s crude rubber inventories fell 4.3 percent to 5,920 tonnes in the 10 days to Aug. 29, data compiled by the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Thursday. Inventories were down 39.7 percent from 9,819 tonnes a year earlier. [ID:nt153327]
* U.S. crude oil prices recovered to trade near $102 a barrel on concerns that Hurricane Ike might disrupt U.S. oil refining and production facilities. [O/R]
PRICES OF ASIAN PHYSICAL RUBBER COMPARED WITH THURSDAY
Grade Price Change
Thai RSS3 (Oct) $2.98/kg +$0.06
Thai RSS3 (Nov) $2.98/kg +$0.06
Thai STR20 (Oct) $2.95/kg +$0.05
Thai STR20 (Nov) $2.95/kg +$0.05
Malaysia SMR20 (Oct) $2.95/kg +$0.05
Malaysia SMR20 (Nov) $2.95/kg +$0.05
Indonesia SIR20 (Oct) $1.32/lb +$0.04
Indonesia SIR20 (Nov) $1.32/lb +$0.04
Thai USS3 94 baht/kg unchanged
Thai 60-percent latex (drums, Oct) $2,050/tonne +$10
Thai 60-percent latex (bulk, Oct) $1,910/tonne +$10
Source: Reuters