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BANGKOK, March 24 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures ended
slightly higher on Wednesday on the back of strong demand at a
time of tight physical supply, but gains were limited by weaker
oil prices, dealers said.
* The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity
Exchange <0#JRU:> for August delivery rose 0.2 yen to settle at
288.0 yen ($3.18) per kg.
* “TOCOM should remain supported as physical supply was
tight. However, there was no further support from the technical
side such as oil prices, which were weak,” a Japanese dealer
said.
* Production in Thailand and Malaysia, the biggest and
third-biggest producers, has been falling since late February as
dry weather cut latex output. Farmers were expected to stop
tapping rubber trees completely in April.
* Oil fell towards $81 on Wednesday after a report showed
U.S. crude inventories surged, deepening concerns about the
recovery in demand in industrialised countries as Europe
struggles to manage Greece’s debt crisis. [ID:nSGE62N03C]
* Higher oil prices make petrochemical-based synthetic rubber
more expensive and usually encourage tyre makers to shift to
natural rubber.
* TOCOM rubber was expected to push higher on Thursday after
it managed to stay above the important psychological level of 285
yen, dealers said.
($1=90.45 Yen)
Source: Reuters