TOKYO, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures were a touch firmer on Friday as the benchmark contract hovered slightly below 140 yen on position adjustments ahead of the weekend.

* As of 0053 GMT, the key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery <0#JRU:> had risen to 137.6 yen per kg, up 1.3 yen.

* Prices are still within sight of the intraday low of 127.6 yen marked on Nov. 21, the lowest since January 2005.

* Oil prices hovered around $54 a barrel on Thursday as a holiday weekend in the United States and an upcoming OPEC meeting limited trade, while fundamentals remained weak with high U.S. crude stocks weighing on the market. [O/R]

* Trading in the physical rubber market has been slow due to the political turmoil in Thailand, the world’s top rubber producer.

* The International Rubber Consortium, which groups the world’s top rubber producers, was forced to cancel this week’s meeting to discuss prices due to the unrest in Thailand.

Source:  Reuters

BANGKOK (Dow Jones)–The global long-term demand situation for natural rubber remains healthy despite the current global economic slowdown, the chief executive of Singapore-based R1 International Pte Ltd. said Wednesday.

China, for example, which is the world’’s biggest natural rubber consumer, is likely to double its consumption to more than 4 million metric tons by 2020, said Sandana Das.

However, more needs to be done by the industry to promote new uses for natural rubber, Das said at industry event, adding producing countries should work more closely in the future to prevent oversupply, while industry as a whole must work together to try and halt the growing problem of defaults.

“When you consider the Shanghai Futures Exchange traded 421 million tons of natural rubber in 2007, the Tokyo Commodities Exchange 35 million tons and the Sicom 2 million tons, when total global production stands at less than 10 million tons a year, you can see the influence that speculation has on the market.”

Das said there needs to be more research and development to find more uses for natural rubber, which is now solely dependent on the tire industry.

“Demand has been seriously hit in recent months but the steep decline in prices is an overreaction,” he said, adding the confidence in the market will likely stay weak until 2009.

“It’’s impossible to forecast a price range in that period but I would expect natural rubber to generally trade in a US$1,000-US$1,200/ton range over the next three months.”

Source:  Dow Jones Newswires

BANGKOK, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Global rubber consumption is expected to drop 3.3 percent in 2009, the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) said on Wednesday, revising down its previous forecast of 4.2 percent growth because of the world economic slowdown.
It said demand would grow only 1.9 percent in 2008, down from its in April of 2.7 percent.
“It’s a temporary phenomenon. The long-term outlook is still very good,” Hidde Smit, secretary general of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), told a conference in Bangkok.
The IRSG forecast global rubber consumption at 23.29 million tonnes in 2008, dropping to 22.52 million tonnes in 2009.
The IRSG also forecast that global rubber consumption would pick up in 2010, growing around 7 percent to 24.25 million tonnes as the global economy recovered.

Source:  Reuters

SINGAPORE, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures fell for
the seventh trading day in a row on Wednesday, ending within
sight of its weakest in almost four years hit last week as oil
trimmed gains and worries about weakening demand persisted.
* The Thai government will buy rubber from farmers if prices
fall below $1 per kg, the deputy agriculture minister said on
Wednesday, after fears of a global recession sent prices of the
commodity to multi-year lows. [ID:nNBKK423102]
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May
2009 delivery <0#JRU:> closed 1.8 yen per kg lower at 131.0 yen
after falling as low as 128 yen per kg.
* The benchmark contract tumbled to an intra-day low of 127.6
yen on Nov. 21, the lowest since January 2005, on falling oil and
fears that a global recession would badly hit demand for rubber.
* The market shrugged off news the the world’s top rubber
producers had cancelled Thursday’s planned meeting on prices
after anti-government protests closed Bangkok’s international
airport. [ID:nBKK423102]
* Oil slipped after rising above $51 a barrel. It
dropped nearly 7 percent on Tuesday, when data showed the U.S.
economy last shrank at its fastest pace in seven years,
highlighting slowing demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.
[O/R]
* Global rubber consumption is expected to drop 3.3 percent
in 2009, the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) said on
Wednesday, revising down its previous forecast of 4.2 percent
growth because of the world economic slowdown. [ID:nBKK372091]
* Japan’s crude rubber inventories amounted to 5,280 tonnes
as of Nov 10, down roughly 1.3 percent from the end of October,
Rubber Trade Association of Japan data showed on Tuesday.
[ID:nT300935]
* Dealers expected tight supplies in Southeast Asia to offer
support for the physical prices, which have been under pressure
from selling in Tokyo.

PRICES OF ASIAN PHYSICAL RUBBER COMPARED WITH TUESDAY
Grade Price Change
Thai RSS3 (Jan) $1.50/kg unchanged
Thai RSS3 (Feb) $1.50/kg unchanged
Thai STR20 (Jan) $1.50/kg unchanged
Thai STR20 (Feb) $1.50/kg unchanged
Malaysia SMR20 (Jan) $1.50/kg unchanged
Malaysia SMR20 (Feb) $1.50/kg unchanged
Indonesia SIR20 (Jan) $0.66/lb unchanged
Indonesia SIR20 (Feb) $0.66/lb unchanged
Thai USS3 44 baht/kg n/a
Thai 60-percent latex (drums, Jan) $1,200/tonne n/a
Thai 60-percent latex (bulk, Jan) $1,100/tonne n/a

Source:  Reuters

BANGKOK, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures ended down
10 percent on Tuesday as weaker oil prices encouraged investment
funds to take stop-loss selling positions.
* The newly listed contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange
<0#JRU:> for May delivery fell 15.2 yen, or 10 percent, from its
opening price to settle 132.8 yen ($1.37) per kg.
It fell as low as 132.5 yen as funds sold contracts after
seeing oil prices retreat, dealers said.
* Oil slipped back towards $53 a barrel on Tuesday, chipping
away at a near 10 percent rally after a rebound in equities and
expectations of another OPEC cut helped the market to record its
biggest two-day gain in two months.
* A meeting of the world’s top rubber producers in Bangkok
this week to look at ways to lift prices also lent some support
to TOCOM prices, but dealers said rises were expected to be
capped if oil prices reversed gains.
* In the physical market, rubber prices were quoted lower due
to thin demand, traders said.

PRICES OF ASIAN PHYSICAL RUBBER COMPARED WITH FRIDAY
Grade Price Change
Thai RSS3 (Jan) $1.50/kg -$0.10
Thai RSS3 (Feb) $1.50/kg n/a
Thai STR20 (Jan) $1.50/kg -$0.10
Thai STR20 (Feb) $1.50/kg n/a
Malaysia SMR20 (Jan) $1.50/kg -$0.10
Malaysia SMR20 (Feb) $1.50/kg n/a
Indonesia SIR20 (Jan) $0.66/lb -$0.04
Indonesia SIR20 (Feb) $0.66/lb n/a
Thai USS3 44 baht/kg – 4 baht
Thai 60-percent latex (drums, Jan) $1,200/tonne n/a
Thai 60-percent latex (bulk, Jan) $1,100/tonne n/a

** NOTE – The prices quoted above are offer prices collected
from traders in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. They are not
official prices quoted by state-run rubber agencies in those
countries.
($1=96.79 Yen)
($1=35.21 baht)

Source:  Reuters