Asian Rubber Settles Higher On Technical Rebound

 

22 April 2014, 17:44 SEAST

 

Asian rubber settled mostly higher Tuesday as investors got a respite from two straight days of selling.

 

Benchmark September natural rubber futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange settled Y0.2 higher at Y201.6 a kilogram–above the key Y200/kg level.

 

There will be a technical rebound on Tocom owing to rubber futures being oversold, International Rubber Consortium chief executive Yium Tavarolit said in his weekly report.

 

Any gains are likely to be short-lived because of overwhelming bearish sentiment, a Bangkok-based trader at a large exporter said.

 

Tocom rubber prices are now back into a contango pattern after two days of selling which saw benchmark prices falling as much as 8.5%–indicating demand concerns offset supply restrictions in the continuing low-production season.

 

September Tocom rubber closed Y1.7 higher at Y203.3/kg in the night session which is considered part of the next trading day.

 

“It looks like prices have found some support around current levels for now because there’s hardly any raw material in producing countries right now so there’s no reason for prices to drop so much. They’re due for a rebound,” a Singapore-based dealer said.