TOCOM rises; top producers to discuss possible export curbs

Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures rose slightly on Thursday, on the back of a strong Shanghai market, while top producers were set to meet mid-December for potential talks on curbing exports amid low prices.

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for rubber prices in Southeast Asia, rose in early trade on overnight gains in Shanghai futures, but were still under pressure from weak fundamentals.

“The news of the meeting did not have a major impact on the market. Fundamentals of rubber are still quite weak. Domestic demand is weak while stocks at tyre factories are quite high,” said Pan Shengjie, researcher with Galaxy Futures.

Top rubber producers Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia will meet on Dec. 16 to discuss ways to prop up distressed prices, including potentially curbing exports, a senior Indonesian trade official said on Wednesday.

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for May delivery  finished 0.5 yen ($0.0044) higher at 164 yen per kg.

TOCOM’s technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for June delivery fell 0.7 yen to close at 144.9 yen per kg.

The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May delivery rose 65 yuan ($9.44) to finish at 11,205 yuan per tonne.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for January delivery last traded at 123.4 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.9 cent.