Japan rubber futures fall for fourth day

SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures fell for the fourth straight session on Monday on expectation of higher supply, while softening physical prices also weighed on the market.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery was down 0.7 yen, or 0.18 percent, at 390.3 yen (USD2.44) per kg.

The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery fell 245 yuan, or 1.44 percent, to 16,795 yuan (USD2,458.10) per metric ton.

The most-active May butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE fell 440 yuan, or 2.68 percent, to 15,970 yuan per ton.

Prices of Thailand’s benchmark export-grade smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) and block rubber were down 2.05 percent and 1.48 percent, respectively.

Expectation has risen for an increase in natural rubber supply as the tapping season returns, weighing on rubber prices which have been hovering near one-and-a-half-year highs.

Tapping in China’s rubber-producing province of Hainan was delayed due to a heat wave, providing short-term support to rubber prices, Chinese broker Guangzhou Futures said in a note.

The collapse of US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad left a fragile ceasefire hanging in the balance and no plan to release Middle East energy exports, dampening investors’ risk appetite.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for May delivery last traded at 202.6 US cents per kg, down 0.2 percent, as of 0705 GMT.