Rubber drops to two-week low after forecast surplus may widen

ERJ staff report (TP)

Tokyo − Rubber declined to a two-week low after a forecast that the global surplus of the commodity will widen through 2015 as production increases, reported Aya Takada for Bloomberg.

Futures for delivery in April on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange lost as much as 1.8 percent to 256 yen (€1.86) a kg, matching the intraday low on 12 November. Futures traded at 257.3 yen (€1.87) at 11:42 am (Japan time, 26 November), extending losses for this year to 15 percent.

The surplus of natural rubber may expand to 200,000 tonnes next year and 257,000 tonnes in 2015 from 134,000 tonnes this year, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. Demand is expected to rise at annual 4 percent in 2014 and 2015 after declines in some major consumers brought the growth rate to 1.6 percent this year.

“Futures were weighed down by speculation that the market will remain oversupplied,” said Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at research company JSC Corp. in Tokyo.

Rubber for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 0.2 percent to 18,890 yuan (€2,287) a tonne.

Thai rubber free-on-board added 0.3 percent to 79.10 baht (€1.82) a kg yesterday (25 November), according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.

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Full story from Bloomberg