SHANGHAI, April 30 (Reuters) – Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 4 percent from one week earlier, the exchange said on Thursday.
Rubber inventories fell to 43,835 tonnes from 45,625 tonnes the week before.

Source: Reuters

TOKYO, April 30 (Reuters) – Japan’s crude rubber inventories
totalled 9,955 tones as of April 10, down 6 percent from figures
for March 31, industry data showed on Thursday.
This is down about 21 percent from a year earlier, data from
the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed.
Demand for rubber has slumped due to the economic crisis,
which has forced automakers to cut production.
Following are details of the association’s latest data:
Apr 10 Mar 31 Mar 20 Mar 10 Feb 28
Crude rubber 9,955 10,585 10,434 10,086 10,862
Natural Latex 397 418 442 454 447
Synthetic
(solid) 1,427 1,605 1,606 1,911 2,071
Synthetic Latices
(D.R.C.) 23 23 23 23 23

Source: Reuters

Asian cash rubber prices mostly flat, though Thai RSS3 up, supported primarily by tight raw material availability following recent wintering season, marginal gains on bellwether Tocom RSS3 contracts, say traders. Mild buying interest from world’’s largest consumer, China, also supportive factor; spot price outlook firm as rain now hampering tapping at southern Thailand’’s key plantations, says trader in Phuket.

Source: Dow Jones

[Dow Jones] Tocom rubber futures settle lower as recent weakness in crude oil prices, firmness in yen vs dollar, generally bearish rubber demand fundamentals continue to weigh on sentiment. Further downside expected, though Tocom likely to remain in narrow Y150-Y160 range this week, pending fresh cues, says trader. Benchmark October RSS3 contract settles Y3.1 lower at Y154.9/kg. Volume thin with just 15,309 lots done. (ANJ)

Source: Dow Jones

BANGKOK, April 24 (Reuters) – Top Asian rubber-producing countries have threatened to enter futures markets in order to prop up falling prices while easing export cuts in the second quarter, senior industry officials said on Friday.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia exported 5.9 million tonnes of rubber in 2008 and account for 70 percent of global output.
They are also members of the International Rubber Consortium (IRCo), which groups private sector and government officials, and plans to take positions in futures markets in order to influence prices, as well as hedge rubber prices in member countries’ stocks, a senior official said after a meeting in Bangkok.
“We will take positions in the futures markets so that we can manage prices through the markets,” said the official, who declined to be named.
“It could be the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) or the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand (AFET),” he added.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to cut exports by a combined 48,000 tonnes per month from the second quarter, adding to cuts already taken under an agreement reached in December.
The new figure of 144,000 tonnes is just over half the cut of 270,000 tonnes in exports they had previously announced for the first quarter, but the countries declined to say if they had met that target.
“The current prices are not sustainable and we are concerned that rising supply over the next few months could push prices down again,” Luckchai Kittipol, a Thai member of the IRCo board, told Reuters. “That’s why we have to retain the export cut measures.”
He gave no reason for the smaller second-quarter cut.
The IRCo’s latest proposals have to be ratified by the International Tripartite Corporation (ITRC), which brings together senior government officials from the IRCo countries. They are tentatively set to meet on May 14-15.

POOR DEMAND
Luckchai, who is also president of the Thai Rubber Association, said physical rubber prices remained low and the outlook for demand was poor.
Cash rubber prices fell more than 50 percent from a 56-year high in July 2008 to $1.15 per kg in December, forcing the IRCo to launch the export-cut measure.
They agreed to remove 915,000 tonnes of rubber from the market in 2009 to prop up prices and said they would cut 270,000 tonnes in the first quarter. Those cuts were compared with actual 2007 exports.
Prices rebounded slightly in the first quarter, supported by Chinese buying. Demand rose after the Chinese government brought in stimulus measures.
Benchmark Thai RSS3 was quoted at $1.63 per kg on Friday.
Rubber prices were not expected to rise significantly over the next few weeks as supply was increasing now that farmers had resumed tapping after the dry season ended.
Tokyo rubber futures (TOCOM), which set the global trend, slipped on Friday, approaching a three-week low as a firmer yen and weak crude prices spurred selling.
At 0703 GMT, the newly listed benchmark contract for October delivery was at 154.9 yen ($1.58) per kg, down from the opening 159.2 yen. ($1=98.13 Yen) (Editing by Alan Raybould)

Source: Reuters