Rubber Unchanged in Tokyo as Car Sales Add to Demand Concern
Rubber Unchanged in Tokyo as Car Sales Add to Demand Concern
By Aya Takada
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Natural rubber futures in Tokyo, the
global benchmark, were unchanged amid concern that slowing car
sales in the U.S. may weaken demand for the commodity used to
produce vehicle tires.
General Motors Corp., the world;s largest automaker, posted
a fourth-quarter loss yesterday on shrinking sales in North
America while overseas revenue rose. Analysts project U.S. auto
sales may fall to 15.5 million this year, around 8 percent below
the annual average this decade.
“Prices of rubber were capped by concern that slowing
economies in the U.S. and Japan may stifle demand for the
commodity,;; Jun Nishimuta, an analyst at Kanetsu Asset
Management Co. in Tokyo, said by phone today.
Rubber for July delivery settled at 303.7 yen a kilogram
($2,832 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
The most-active contract rose yesterday to an intraday high
of 310.8 yen, the highest since Jan. 4, on signs supply from
Thailand, the world;s biggest producer and exporter of rubber,
will decline.
The low-production period in Thailand, known as wintering,
has started as rubber trees shed leaves and plantation workers
refrain from tapping, Nishimuta said.
In the cash market, shippers in Thailand raised offers for
RSS-3 grade rubber for March shipment to $2.78 a kilogram
yesterday, up from $2.72 Feb. 11, Nishimuta said.
Rubber production in Indonesia and Malaysia also slowed as
rains disrupted plantation work, he said.
Indonesia Production
Natural rubber output in Indonesia, the world;s second-
biggest producer, may drop 4.6 percent this year on weather-
related delays, the Southeast Asian nation;s industry association
said.
Production may reach 2.48 million metric tons this year
compared with an estimated 2.6 million last year, Asril Sutan
Amir, vice chairman of the Rubber Association of Indonesia, said
by phone yesterday from Jakarta.
Rubber prices were also supported by speculation that China,
the world;s largest rubber user, may step up purchases of the raw
material after the Lunar New Year holiday, Nishimuta said.
May-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the
most-active contract, fell 0.4 percent to close at 24,030 yuan
($3,327) a ton on the first day of trading after the week-long
holiday.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Aya Takada in Tokyo
