This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 4:40 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, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures fell 3 percent on Tuesday, extending declines into a second session as weakness in Tokyo shares kept intact investor concerns about demand for the industrial commodity.
* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for April delivery <0#JRU:> closed at 168.5 yen per kg, down 5.8 yen or 3.3 percent from the previous close.
* On Monday it fell 0.4 yen, trimming Friday’s 3.4 yen rise.
* “As long as stocks are down and other commodities are down, rubber is down as well. It doesn’t seem easy for investor confidence to recover,” said a manager at a Tokyo-based trading firm.
* Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei share average <.N225> fell 2.3 percent, dragged down by worries about a weakening global economy that battered exporters such as Sony Corp <6758.T>, though bargain-hunting prevented further slides. [.N]
* Oil fell 1 percent in late Asian trading hours on fears that the worsening global economic slump is trimming fuel demand further. [O/R]
* The dollar was little changed at 96.30 yen . The range-bound trade failed to give a clear direction to yen-based futures prices.
* TOCOM rubber futures prices are sounding out a floor after hitting a three-year trough of 153.4 yen in late October, pressured by the global economic crisis and bleak news about the auto industry, but physical prices have been supported by the fundamental supply tightness.
* China will increase the rebate on exports of some types of rubber, including tyres, effective Dec. 1, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday, in a move to help its producers. [ID:nHKG310061]
* Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd <5110.T>, Japan’s second-biggest tyre maker, said it plans to start selling in Japan tyres which include no petrochemical materials by 2013. [ID:nT321311]
PRICES OF ASIAN PHYSICAL RUBBER COMPARED WITH MONDAY
Grade Price Change
Thai RSS3 (Dec) $1.80/kg -$0.05
Thai RSS3 (Jan) $1.80/kg -$0.05
Thai STR20 (Dec) $1.75/kg -$0.10
Thai STR20 (Jan) $1.75/kg -$0.10
Malaysia SMR20 (Dec) $1.75/kg -$0.05
Malaysia SMR20 (Jan) $1.75/kg -$0.05
Indonesia SIR20 (Dec) $0.75/lb -$0.05
Indonesia SIR20 (Jan) $0.75/lb -$0.05
Thai USS3 56 baht/kg – 2 baht
Thai 60-percent latex (drums, Dec) $1,450/tonne unchanged
Thai 60-percent latex (bulk, Dec) $1,300/tonne unchanged
Source: Reuters