Rubber Heads for Five-Month Low as China Demand Seen Faltering

Rubber declined for a fourth day, heading for a five-month low reached yesterday, on concerns that a slowing economy and rising inventories in China, the biggest buyer, will reduce demand for the commodity used in tires.

The contract for delivery in September lost as much as 1.2 percent to 254.5 yen a kilogram ($2,590 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, before trading at 255.7 yen by 11:28 a.m. local time. Futures, which lost 7 percent in the past three days, plunged to 247 yen yesterday, the lowest since Nov. 15.

Rubber stockpiles at Qingdao, China’s largest hub for the commodity, rose to a record 366,900 tons by April 15, according to the Qingdao International Rubber Exchange Market. China’s economy grew 7.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, government data showed April 15. That marked the first time in data going back two decades that four quarters in a row have seen growth of less than 8 percent.

Rubber declined “amid concerns over slow growth in China and high stock levels,” said Gu Jiong, an analyst at commodity broker Yutaka Shoji Co. Still, a weakening Japanese currency may help limit losses, he said by phone today.

The yen fell for a second day against all 16 of its major peers as investors speculated Japan will escape censure at a Group of 20 meeting this week over monetary policies that have weakened its currency. G-20 finance ministers and central bankers meet for two days from tomorrow in Washington, ahead of weekend talks of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

The IMF yesterday trimmed its forecast for China’s 2013 growth to 8 percent from 8.2 percent after World Bank cut the forecast to 8.3 percent from 8.4 percent on April 15.

The contract for September delivery fell 0.7 percent to 19,785 yuan ($3,204) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.