The June-delivery contract added as much as 0.9 percent to 414.8 yen per kilogram ($5,094 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and closed at 414.5 yen, bringing this year’s gain to 50 percent. The bourse will be closed from tomorrow and resume trading on Jan. 4.
Latex production in Thailand is set to shrink as growers reduce tapping of rubber trees from February to April. The seasonal drop in output may worsen a supply shortage as global demand rises, led by car sales in China and India. Rubber climbed to a record 419.3 yen on Dec. 27.
“Concern over tight supply continued lending support to the market,” said Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at research company JSC Corp. in Tokyo. A rebound in oil prices also pushed rubber higher, reversing its early 1.8 percent decline, Shigemoto said.
Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as 0.2 percent to $91.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after losing 0.4 percent yesterday. The contract touched $91.88 on Dec. 27, the highest level since Oct. 7, 2008.
Rubber futures declined earlier as China, the world’s biggest consumer, may take measures to curb speculation, said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at commodity broker Central Shoji Co.
Supply Drop
China may increase the size of agricultural futures contracts in 2012 to curb speculation, the Shanghai Securities News reported today, citing no one. Contracts already being traded will expire by the end of 2011 and the new contracts are still being studied, the report said. Raising the sizes will increase the amount of capital required for trading and keep some speculators out of futures markets, it said.
Supply of natural rubber from nine producers representing 92 percent of global output is expected to fall 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter, cutting this year’s production growth to 5.7 percent, from 6.6 percent forecast in November, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries said in its monthly bulletin.
Output from the association’s members is estimated at 9.42 million tons this year and may climb to 9.92 million next year, the group said.
May-delivery rubber in Shanghai advanced 0.8 percent to close at 36,545 yuan ($5,534) a ton. The price has retreated from a record 38,920 yuan on Nov. 11 amid concern that China may take steps to cool inflation and economic expansion.
The cash rubber price in Thailand was unchanged at a record 149.55 baht ($4.96) per kilogram today as persistent rains in the country’s southern provinces limit supplies, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand’s website.
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