Rubber futures drop, prices set to ‘consolidate’

Tokyo – Natural rubber (NR) futures fell during the trading week ended 3 Feb, following a short rally over the first few weeks of the year.

Following the week-long lunar new year holidays, trading resumed in the Chinese market last week and “active trading activities” were observed across all major exchanges, said Japan’s Stock Exchange JPX 6 Feb.

In its weekly NR trading report, JPX linked the decline in prices to the market still ‘not having confidence in the recovery of the Chinese economy’ and concerns over the risk of global recessions due to further interest rate hikes.

In Japan, OSE rubber futures fell 4% with active transactions, while SHFE and INE futures in China dropped almost 3%.

In Singapore, SICOM futures shed 4.8% amid “new selling and profit-taking”.

Over the next week, JPX said it anticipated rubber futures prices to "consolidate and trade sideways" as the Northern Hemisphere soon moves toward the wintering season.