TOKYO: Japanese rubber futures fell for a third consecutive session on Wednesday, pressured by seasonally weak demand, sluggish car sales and expectations of increased tapping in rubber-producing countries.
The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for November delivery was down 7.6 yen, or 1.79 percent, at 416.4 yen (USD2.60) per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for September delivery dipped 250 yuan, or 1.42 percent, to 17,330 yuan (USD2,557.93) per metric ton.
The most active July butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE fell 270 yuan, or 2.01 percent, to 13,140 yuan per metric ton.
Top consumer China imported 531,000 tons of natural and synthetic rubber in May, a 12.5 percent decrease year-on-year, a reflection of weak demand seen in falling car sales.
Sales from the world’s largest automobile-manufacturing country dropped 22.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.53 million vehicles last month, marking an eighth consecutive month of decline, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday.
Expectations of increasing supply from rubber-producing countries, coupled with seasonally weak demand, have resulted in a short-term downward pressure on rubber prices, several Chinese brokers said.
Japan’s wholesale inflation accelerated in May at the fastest pace in three years as price pressures from the Middle East war broadened, data showed on Wednesday, adding to the case for further interest rate hikes by the central bank.
Oil prices edged lower in volatile trade on Wednesday after notching early gains, as renewed US-Iran hostilities muddied direction, though a forecast US stock draw offered support.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for July delivery last traded at 222.3 US cents per kg, down 1.6 percent.