TOCOM to launch TSR rubber futures around Oct. 9

TOKYO: The Tokyo Commodity Exchange said on Thursday that it expects to launch technically specified rubber (TSR) futures on the exchange around Oct. 9 after gaining government approval.

The exchange already has a rubber futures contract, on which ribbed smoked sheet (RSS) No.3 is traded.

TSR and RSS No.3 are both used for products such as automobile tires, but production and consumption of TSR has overtaken RSS in recent years.

TOCOM said last October that TSR now accounted for about 80 percent of Japan's total natural rubber imports, up from about 40 percent a decade earlier, and a TSR contract would offer market participants with more flexibility.

A TOCOM spokesman said it expected to receive final government approvals in early October, shortly before the planned launch.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) also plans to launch TSR rubber futures after the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved its plans last month.