Investors are more worried about possible
imposition of higher import tariffs on Japanese automobiles by the US
administration, but the benchmark Tokyo rubber futures recovered and ended on higher
note, but were down for a second straight week due to the fears over US-China
trade war which may hurt demand in China. The TOCOM rubber contract for January
2019 delivery finished 0.9 yen higher at 168.0 yen per kg.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures
exchange for September delivery fell 10 yuan to finish at 10,285 yuan per tonne
as concerns about oversupply persisted. According to Shanghai Futures Exchange,
rubber inventories in its warehouses rose 0.4% from last Friday.
A breakthrough in US-EU
trade talks also lent support to oil prices. Oil prices edged
lower after three days of gains, but took support from Saudi Arabia suspending oil shipments through the Red Sea's Bab
al-Mandeb strait, falling US inventories and easing trade
tensions between US and Europe.
According to Rubber Authority of Thailand, to
stimulate international prices, Thailand plans to cut supply of up to 50,000
tonnes of natural rubber output by reducing the rubber growing areas.
The benchmark RSS4 grade rubber closed at `.131.50
a kg at Kottayam, while RSS3 grade closed at `.101.24 a kg at
Bangkok and Malaysian SMR20 closed at `.90.75 a kg. On Multi
Commodity Exchange August 2018, the futures closed at `.132.12
a kg and September closed at `.129.98 a kg. Tokyo
Commodity Exchange August 2018 futures series closed at ¥161.6 a kg, September
at ¥162.6, October at ¥165.5.2, November at ¥168, December 2018 at ¥168.3 and
the contract for delivery in January 2019 closed at ¥168 a kg.
For 2018-19 Rubber
Forecast: http://rubber4u.com/Public/RForecast.pdf
