Tokyo rubber futures edged higher on Tuesday on the back of firm oil prices but the rise was capped by thin trading volumes as investors waited for clear policy moves from the Bank of Japan, dealers said. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange for August delivery rose 1.3 yen to settle at 339.3 yen ($4.13) per kg.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery was up 295 yuan to finish at 29,090 yuan ($4,600) per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange was last traded at 382.10 US cents per kg, up 0.4 cent.
Trading volumes on Tokyo rubber futures stood at 6,467 lots on Tuesday, far below the more than 10,000 lots normally traded on the exchange. However, dealers said TOCOM was still supported by firm oil prices and limited supply, and expected prices to move in the range of 330 to 340 yen. Global demand for rubber, both natural and synthetic, is forecast to reach 26.8 million tonnes in 2012.