Japan rubber futures drift lower

SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures declined on Thursday, as the market expected supply to start picking up before peak production season in April.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for August delivery fell 1.5 yen, or 0.4 percent, to 371.9 yen (USD2.37) per kg.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for May delivery fell 140 yuan, or 0.84 percent, to 16,555 yuan (USD2,401.22) per metric ton.

The most active April butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE rose 515 yuan, or 3.76 percent, to 14,210 yuan per metric ton.

March marks a turning point for rubber harvesting, bridging the wintering season in February and peak production season in April. As such, expectations of supply picking up are starting to be priced into the market, a note from Baocheng Futures said.

The price of Thailand’s benchmark export-grade smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) dipped below 80 baht per kg from March 2-4, but remained elevated after rising for weeks on softer Thai supply.

However, pledges of policy stimulus in top consumer China, as well as declining rubber production in second-largest producer Indonesia helped curb downside.

Investors also eyed the annual parliamentary meeting in top consumer China on the day and the release of its 15th five-year plan, for signals on economic stimulus and domestic demand.

The world’s biggest rubber consumer pledged to trim its growth prospects to rebalance its economy and boost domestic consumption, as it upgrades its industrial complex.

Indonesia, a major global producer of natural rubber, saw a 0.7 percent year-on-year drop in production to 2.12 million tons in 2025, according to Chinese commodity data provider SunSirs.

The front-month rubber contract on the Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for April delivery last traded flat at 194.4 US cents per kg as of 0705 GMT.