SHANGHAI: Japanese rubber futures extended its rally to a seventh session on Monday, as prices touched their highest level since November 28 on the back of speculative buying ahead of the new year. The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for June delivery closed up 0.2 yen, or 0.06 percent, at 341.1 yen (USD2.18) per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for May delivery fell by 85 yuan, or 0.54 percent, to 15,665 yuan (USD2,235.21) per metric ton.
Rubber inventories in SHFE-monitored warehouses rose 2.3 percent from the week before. The most-active February butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE rose 110 yuan, or 0.96 percent, to 11,600 yuan (USD1,655.18) per ton.
Global rubber futures ended last week higher across all major exchanges.
Strong physical demand, speculative buying and position-adjusting ahead of the new year underpinned prices, Japan Exchange Group said in a report on Monday.
Purchases by Chinese participants for the January delivery contract ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays in February provided additional support to the market, it added.
The yen strengthened 0.3 percent to 156.13 per dollar after sliding on Friday. A stronger Japanese currency makes yen-denominated assets less affordable to overseas buyers. Japan’s Nikkei average futures were up 0.08 percent.
In other news, the government of the Ivory Coast, a major producer of rubber, plans to add 500,000 hectares of new rubber plantations over the next 10 years, significantly expanding its production capacity, Japan Exchange Group said.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for January delivery edged down by 0.3 percent to 182.5 US cents per kg, as of 0700 GMT.
Comments