TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures slipped on Thursday, after three sessions of gains, as peak season supplies and losses in oil prices weighed.
The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for December delivery was down 4.7 yen, or 1.09 percent, at 427.1 yen (USD2.64) per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery fell 185 yuan, or 1.08 percent, to 16,905 yuan (USD2,497.97) per metric ton.
The most active September butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE rose 155 yuan, or 1.14 percent, to 13,740 yuan per metric ton.
Top rubber producer Thailand is now in peak rubber-tapping season, and output in southern Thailand has started to recover as rainfall there moderated in late June and early July, said Zhang Xiao, analyst at Chinese broker Guoyuan Futures.
Rubber crops usually undergo a season of low production from February to May, before a peak harvesting period that lasts until September.
The market is likely a little on edge over oil-related moves tied to the Strait of Hormuz situation, though firm raw material costs are keeping a steady floor under prices, said Farah Miller, CEO of rubber data analytics firm Helixtap Technologies.
Oil prices turned lower on Thursday as traders took profits while assessing the risks from a new wave of US strikes on Iranian military installations that stoked fears of renewed full-scale conflict and supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
Natural rubber often takes direction from oil prices as it competes for market share with synthetic rubber, which is made from crude oil.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for August delivery last traded at 215.5 US cents per kg, down 1.5 percent as of 0717 GMT.
Comments