Rubber tumbles

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 5.7 percent on Tuesday after TOCOM requested its member-brokers to submit reports detailing their customers' positions after prices surged amid supply worries in the wake of floods in Thailand. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for July delivery finished 20.1 yen lower at 331.3 yen per kg.
In absence of Shanghai futures due to lunar New Year holidays, TOCOM futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, hit 366.7 yen in Monday's night session, the highest since September 2011. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for February delivery was last traded at 224.80 US cents per kg, up 1.1 cent.