TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures fell from 15-year highs on Wednesday, tracking oil prices lower and pressured by a slightly stronger yen.
The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for November delivery was down 3 yen, or 0.67 percent, at 442 yen (USD2.76) per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery rose 50 yuan, or 0.28 percent, to 17,890 yuan (USD2,647.94) per metric ton.
The most active July butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE slumped 460 yuan, or 3.43 percent, to 12,960 yuan per ton.
Oil prices fell slightly as investors gauged the impact of a US-Iran peace deal, while uncertainty over full resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz limited price declines.
Oil industry officials said a full return to pre-war production and refining levels is likely to take weeks, months or even years.
Natural rubber often takes direction from oil prices as it competes for market share with synthetic rubber, which is made from crude oil.
The yen last stood slightly stronger at 160.27 per dollar, leaving traders on alert for any potential intervention from Japanese authorities to shore up the persistently weak currency.
The BOJ on Tuesday raised rates to a 31-year high in a landmark step in its policy normalisation, signalling readiness to tighten further as it focuses on taming price pressures from the war-induced energy shock.
The meteorological agency in Thailand, a leading rubber producer, warned of flash floods around the northern and eastern regions due to potential heavy rains from June 17 to 19.
Though the north of Thailand produces less rubber than the south, weather disruptions have affected tapping, keeping a floor under rubber prices so far this year.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for July delivery traded 1.2 percent lower at 228.8 US cents per kg, as of 0708 GMT.
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