SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures rose on Wednesday, as exports from top producer Thailand fell year-on-year in January-February. The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for August delivery was up 4.3 yen, or 1.19percent, at 365 yen (USD2.30) per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for May delivery rose 230 yuan, or 1.42percent, to 16,430 yuan (USD2,382.61) per metric ton.
The most-active May butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE rose 725 yuan, or 4.27percent, to 17,720 yuan per ton. Prices of Thailand’s benchmark export-grade smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) and block rubber were up 1.28percent and 2.19percent, respectively. Persistently high prices of synthetic rubber are supporting natural rubber prices by incentivising manufacturers to switch to the latter.
Prices of butadiene rubber on the SHFE have overtaken those of natural rubber this week for the first time since August 2024, according to LSEG-compiled data.
Thailand’s natural rubber exports fell 15percent for January and February, data from its Ministry of Commerce showed. Rubber crops usually undergo a season of low production from February to May, before a peak harvesting period that lasts until September. Output in Thailand is expected to remain flat in 2026, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) told Reuters.
Oil prices fell around 4percent on Wednesday on the prospect of a possible ceasefire easing supply disruptions from the key Middle East producing region after reports the US sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war between them.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for April delivery last traded at 196.1 US cents per kg, up 1.3percent, as of 0700 GMT.