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Rubber in Tokyo dropped to a two- week low as some investors sold after a recent rally and as the price in Shanghai slumped on speculation that regulators may be probing futures positions in China.
Futures in Tokyo lost as much as 2.6 percent to 290.9 yen per kilogram ($3,474 a metric ton), the lowest level since Aug. 26. The price on the Shanghai Futures Exchange plunged by the most in three months on the probe speculation, the Securities Times said on its website, citing people it didn’t identify.
“The market was ripe for profit-taking after a rally this month,” Hisaaki Tasaka, an analyst at Tokyo-based broker ACE Koeki Co., said by phone. Investors in China reduced long, or buy, positions amid the investigation speculation, dragging down futures in Tokyo, he said.
February-delivery rubber lost as much as 7.8 yen, before settling 5.2 yen lower at 293.5 yen on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. Earlier, futures in Tokyo advanced to 302.6 yen, the highest level since April 30, amid optimism that Asia’s economic recovery will be sustained.
An official at the Beijing-based China Securities Regulatory Commission, who didn’t wish to be identified, declined to comment.
January-delivery rubber on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped as much as 4.6 percent, the most since June 7, to 25,230 yuan ($3,718). Earlier, it climbed to 26,725 yuan, the highest level since July 2008, as accelerating growth in China’s car sales raised the outlook for demand.
Car Sales
China’s passenger-car sales to dealerships grew at a faster pace in August as dealers offered discounts. Wholesale deliveries of passenger cars rose 18.7 percent to 1.02 million units in August, compared with 13.6 percent growth in July, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said today in a statement. Deliveries surged 90 percent in August 2009 after government incentives bolstered demand.
The rubber price was also supported earlier amid concern that wet weather may curb output in Southeast Asia, said Kazuhiko Saito, an analyst at Tokyo-based broker Fujitomi Co.
Natural-rubber output in Indonesia, the world’s second- largest grower, may miss an industry group’s target for this year as heavy rains disrupt tapping.
Output may total 2.4 million tons in 2010, less than an earlier forecast of 2.6 million, said Suharto Honggokusumo, executive director of the Rubber Association of Indonesia. Production last year was 2.44 million tons, according to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries.
Source: Bloomberg