Rubber drops as US confidence data weaken demand outlook

ERJ staff report (TP)

Tokyo − Rubber fell for a second day after US consumer confidence unexpectedly dropped this month, weakening the demand outlook for the commodity used in tires, reported Aya Takada for Bloomberg.

Futures for delivery in May on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange dropped as much as 0.6 percent to 256.6 yen a kg (€1.854), nearing a two-week low reached yesterday, and traded at 257.3 yen (€1.859) at 11:42 am (Japan time, 27 November). The most-active contract has lost 15 percent this year.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 70.4 in November from a revised 72.4 in October. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 78 economists called for a November reading of 72.6. Most Asian stocks retreated.

“Investor appetite waned on a lack of positive news about demand,” said Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at broker Fujitomi Co. in Tokyo. “People are watching out for any impact on shipments from a political turmoil in Thailand.”

The Thai protest leader who led a seizure of the nation’s finance ministry two days ago said his group won’t end street demonstrations until it dismantles the political machinery of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand is the world’s largest producer and exporter of natural rubber.

Thai rubber free-on-board was unchanged at 79.10 baht (€1.81) a kg yesterday (26 November), according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand. The contract for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost 0.2 percent to 18,890 yuan (€2,279) a tonne.

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Full story from Bloomberg