TOCOM gains as major producers seek ways to curb exports

* Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures gained on Tuesday, helped by expectations for tighter supplies as the world’s major rubber producers seek ways to trim exports to help shore up prices.

* TOCOM’s rubber contract for May delivery finished 1.1 yen higher at 198.4 yen ($1.83) per kg, booking the highest close since June 24.

* The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 35 yuan to finish at 13,230 yuan ($1,880) per tonne. China’s new technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract was last down 70 yuan at 11,150 yuan per tonne.

* “A series of moves by producers to help tighten supplies lent support to the recent rally,” said Satoru Yoshida, a commodity analyst with Rakuten Securities.

* The International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), which includes top producers Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, is considering another export curb to help stabilise rubber prices, the group said last week.

* Thailand’s cabinet has approved a 20-year plan to slash rubber plantations by 21% nationwide and increase the value of rubber exports by more than threefold, a government spokeswoman said last week.* “But for the TOCOM benchmark to break through a key 200 yen ceiling, it needs fresh news to bolster hopes for demand to grow, such as signs of improvement in U.S.-Sino trade row,” Yoshida said.

* U.S. President Donald Trump does not want to implement the next round of scheduled tariffs against Chinese goods on Dec. 15, but he wants “movement” from China to avoid them, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Monday.

* Auto sales in China fell for a 17th consecutive month in November, with the number of new energy vehicles (NEVs) sold contracting for a fifth month in a row, data from its biggest auto industry association showed on Tuesday.

* Passenger vehicle production in India rose 4.06% during November, a report by an industry body showed on Tuesday, signalling a potential recovery of the sector hurt by a crippling slowdown in demand.

* Japan’s benchmark Nikkei stock average edged lower on Tuesday as the deadline neared for a fresh round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, against the backdrop of positive comments from Washington and Beijing on progress in the trade talks.

* The U.S. dollar was quoted around 108.63 yen, compared with around 108.56 yen on Monday afternoon* Oil prices slipped on Tuesday for a second straight session as the cons of a slowing global demand outlook outweighed the pros of OPEC’s agreement with associated producers at the end of last week to deepen crude output cuts in early 2020.

* The front-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM exchange for January delivery last traded at 147.1 U.S. cents per kg, unchanged from the previous day. ($1 = 108.6400 yen) ($1 = 7.0389 Chinese yuan renminbi)