Tokyo rubber slips from one-month high on May 17

Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures ended lower on Friday, retreating from an about 1-month high hit earlier, as investors squared off positions ahead of the weekend, but they booked a weekly gain on hopes for an export curb by top producer Thailand. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for October delivery finished 0.3 yen lower at 192.8 yen ($1.8) per kg, after reaching its highest since April 15 of 195.5 yen earlier in the session. For the week, it marked a 3.3% gain.

"Investors unwound their positions as physical prices in producing countries were not as high as the TOCOM prices," a Tokyo-based dealer said. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery jumped 135 yuan to finish at 12,205 yuan ($1,766) per tonne. It hit the highest since March 12 of 12,280 yuan earlier in the session. "Behind the recent rally in Shanghai were concerns over tighter supply as Yunnan Province has been drier than usual, slowing a seasonal ramp-up in the rubber-rich area in China," the dealer said.

"Investors will be focusing on how the planned export curb by Thailand will affect rubber demand and supply next week," he added. Thailand will cut rubber exports by 126,240 tonnes next week for four months after a delay in implementing a supply cut agreement with other regional producers, the country's state rubber agency said on Thursday. Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.4 percent from the previous Friday, the exchange said.

TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for November delivery closed down 0.5% at 164.8 yen per kg. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for June delivery last traded at 150.1 US cents per kg, down 0.6%.