Rubber futures snap five-week rally

Tokyo – Natural rubber (NR) futures have ended their five-week streak of gains, due mainly to “substantial long liquidation and speculative selling.”

The trading week ended 14 June saw rubber prices falling week-on-week across all major rubber exchanges, reported Japan Exchange Group (JPX) 17 June.

In Osaka, Japan, OSE rubber futures for November delivery fell sharply, by 5.3% week-on-week amid moderate tarding, while China’s SHFE and INE declined by 3.2% and 4.4%, respectively.

In Singapore, SICOM’s September delivery contracts closed 3.8% lower week-on-week, due to “profit-taking and long liquidation activities,” JPX reported.

JPX linked the declines to unconfirmed reports of Chinese commodity hedge funds playing “a significant role as sellers, liquidating approximately 400,000 tonnes of long positions across the SHFE and INE markets.”

The report also noted that official data from SHFE and INE reflected a considerable decline in open interest, down by nearly 9% and 10.2%.

Trading volume for rubber futures also decreased across all major exchanges during the week, reflecting reduced buying interest amid the market downturn.

In related news, Bridgestone Americas announced cutting 118 jobs at its farm tire production plant in Des Moines, Iowa.

Meanwhile, a new tire production project is progressing in Pakistan, with planned production capacity of 1.4 million units of passenger car tires to serve local demand.