Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 1.3 percent on Friday, tracking weaker Shanghai futures amid worries over a slowing economy in top consumer China. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, have been trading near a six-year low hit in early September amid concerns about a rubber glut in Asia.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for March delivery finished 2.2 yen lower at 172.2 yen per kg. For the week, the contract declined 1 percent, the first decline in three weeks. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for January delivery fell 215 yuan to finish at 11,610 yuan per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for November delivery last traded at 127.5 US cents per kg, down 0.4 cent.