Tokyo futures up over 1 pct, tracking oil and shares (Aug 30)

Tokyo futures up over 1 pct, tracking oil and shares (Aug 30)
August 30, 2011





TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures rose 1.2 percent to a two-week high in early Asian trade on Tuesday, tracking gains in equities and oil as solid U.S. consumer data brightened sentiment and drove commodity currencies sharply higher.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The key Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for February delivery <0#2JRU:> was up 4.3 yen at 368.2 yen per kg as of 0020 GMT.

* The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January delivery rose 0.3 percent to close at 33,155 yuan per tonne on Monday. Volume stood at 422,704 lots.

* The yen edged lower to 76.94 yen , pulling further away from an all-time high around 75.94 set earlier in the month.

* Brent crude rose for a fifth straight session on Monday as equities rallied on a rise in consumer spending, strong financials and relief that damage from Hurricane Irene was less severe than expected.

* For the top stories in rubber market and other news, click , or

MARKET NEWS

* Mazda Motor Co said it has decided to assemble its subcompact Mazda 2 in Vietnam as early as this year, Japanese business daily the Nikkei reported.

* Hurricane Irene hit the U.S. East Coast at the most inopportune time for many businesses, keeping millions of shoppers away from stores and auto dealerships during what should have been a busy weekend.

*Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average opened up 1.2 percent at 8,958.50 on Tuesday, after U.S. stocks surged on strong consumer spending data as well as a merger between two big Greek banks which provided relief in debt-stricken Europe.

* U.S. consumer spending recorded its largest increase in five months in July in the United States, supporting the view that the economy was not falling back into recession.





Low supply. low demand keeps rubber prices high
August 29, 2011





Kuala Lumpur — Although demand for natural rubber has eased over the summer, low suply has kept prices at historic highs, albeit lower than the record highs seen in February this year. In the latest edition of its monthly publication Natural Rubber Trends & Statistics, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) said, “Natural rubber (NR) market has been increasingly fragile since the beginning of this month (August).”

ANRPC said, “Beginning from 9th August, key regional rubber markets have seen prices deviating from falling trend. The sentiments further improved since the fourth week of August. “

The report continues, “Supply of NR has slowed down further in July and the slow trend is expected to continue through August. Total supply from ANRPC’s member nations is estimated to have grown only by 2.9% on year in July and the same low rate is anticipated for August also. This reveals a progressive decline in the output growth from the 10.5 percent rate attained in Q1 (January to March) and 4.9% rate during Q2 (April to June) on annualised basis. “

ANRPC’s total supply anticipated for this year (January to December 2011) stands almost unchanged at the previously-reported 9.961 million tons, up 5.0 percent from a year before.

ANRPC sees China’s imports down significantly. The report says, “China’s import demand for NR (Including rubber compounds containing more than 95 percent NR) is anticipated to fall annually by 7.5 percent, to 680,000 tons during the third quarter of this year. “




Japan facing rubber, polypropylene shortage on rising automobile output
Written by HMH | August 29, 2011 | 0 |





Concerns over shortages of synthetic rubber and polypropylene are growing as major Japanese automakers are set to increase their production between October 2011 and March 2012, the Nikkei reported Monday.

Japanese tire maker Bridgestone has notified automakers that orders for passenger car tires will likely exceed its domestic output capacity, the Nikkei said. The company is expected to face a shortage of an estimated 500,000 tires, or roughly 5% of orders received, this year.

Bridgestone’s seven domestic plants making passenger car tires are operating around the clock and have no room to raise output. Procuring tires from plants overseas appears to be difficult due to strong demand there, the Nikkei said.

Japan Polypropylene is having trouble keeping up with demand for PP. Inventories are running low at its 640,000 mt/year PP plant in Kashima, which shut down for about two months following the March 11 earthquake. In addition, regular maintenance is scheduled at the plant from the end of this month through mid-October, the Japan’s leading financial daily said.

PP is a main feedstock to produce autoparts and bumpers. Toyota Motor and seven other major manufacturers of passenger cars project a 2% year-on-year increase in global output in the six months to end-March 2012, with major hikes planned in Japan.






Rubber Gains on Supply Concern, Optimism on Recovery
August 29, 2011





Rubber advanced on concerns that heavy rains in Thailand, the largest producer, may lower production and after fears the U.S. economy will stall were allayed, boosting optimism the global recovery is intact.

January-delivery rubber rose as much as 1 percent to 362.60 yen per kilogram ($4,727 a metric ton). The most-active contract gained 1.9 percent last week, the first advance since the week of July 29.

Asian stocks climbed for a third day today, joining an advance in U.S. and European equities after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he is “more optimistic” about the long-term prospects of the U.S. economy. The extended Federal Open Market Committee meeting in September will “allow a fuller discussion” of the economy and the central bank’s possible response, he said Aug. 26.

“Bernanke’s speech helped boost sentiment to commodities markets,” Navarat Kaewpratarn, senior marketing official at Future Agri Trade Co., said by phone from Bangkok. Rubber also advanced on concerns that production may decline in Thailand after heavy rains persist, disrupting latex tapping, she said.

A monsoon covering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand has intensified, causing heavy rains, Thai Meteorological Department said on its website today.

The cash price of Thai rubber added 0.2 percent to 139.25 baht ($4.64) a kilogram on Aug. 26, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand. The price will be updated around midday.







NYMEX-Crude rises as Irene sweeps U.S. East Coast
August 29, 2011





TOKYO, Aug 29 (Reuters) – U.S. crude futures headed higher on Monday as tropical storm Irene, downgraded from a hurricane, swept through Manhattan, but the gains were limited as most oil refiners weathered the worst of its fury.

FUNDAMENTALS

* NYMEX crude for October delivery was up 17 cents at $85.54 a barrel by 2304 GMT, after settling up 7 cents at $85.37 on Friday on firm Wall Street gains.

But the gains were limited after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stopped short on Friday of detailing further action to spur a flagging economy.

Last week, front-month crude gained $3.11 or 3.78 percent, snapping a four-week losing streak.

* London Brent crude for October delivery was down 13 cents at $111.23 a barrel, after settling up 74 cents on Friday.

Last week, Brent rose $2.74 or 2.52 percent, extending gains to a second straight week.

* Tropical storm Irene left at least 15 dead, as many as 3.6 million customers without electricity and thousands of downed trees. It forced the closure of New York’s mass transit system and the cancellation of thousands of flights.

Most U.S. oil refiners, terminals and pipelines along the U.S. East Coast weathered the storm, downgraded from hurricane levels early on Sunday morning, while a few shut down operations or ran at reduced rates.

U.S. nuclear facilities look to resume operations after Irene passes.

* Libya’s battered oil towns are struggling to get back to work after months of back-and-forth clashes between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi along the Mediterranean coast.

Rebel authorities have called on oil workers to return to their jobs to get the country’s economic lifeline flowing again but there are few signs of an imminent return to production, and many workers remain too afraid to come back.

* Al Qaeda’s new second-in-command was killed in Pakistan, U.S. officials said on Saturday, in a major blow to the group still reeling from the death of Osama bin Laden.

* The IMF’s updated forecasts to be released next month do not foresee a global recession but risks have risen, a senior IMF official said on Friday.

“I can say that our base case is certainly not a recession,” IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky told CNBC television. “There’s no doubt, however, that risks have risen given the weak performance in many economic data in the last few months,” he said.

* U.S. crude oil speculators on two rival exchanges differed in their view of the market last week, raising net longs on NYMEX but cutting them on the UK Intercontinental Exchange.

Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions on NYMEX in the week to Aug. 23 by 521 to 165,897 contracts, a weekly report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.

MARKETS NEWS

* U.S. stocks are setting up for another turbulent week, and while Irene passed with less damage than had been feared in many areas, the storm’s impact on public transit near Wall Street could depress trading volumes.

August is shaping up as the worst month for stocks since February 2009, partly on the belief that the U.S. economy was headed for a double-dip recession.

For the month so far, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 7.1 percent, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 8.9 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index is down 10 percent, still in correction mode.





India Market on Aug 27: Mixed trend in spot rubber
August 28, 2011





KOTTAYAM, AUG. 27:
Spot rubber showed a mixed mood on Saturday. The market opened steady and remained almost neutral during the morning session.

The September series closed at Rs 209 (206.69), October at Rs 206.35 (204.18), November at Rs 206.80 (204.34), January at Rs 208.50 (208.99) and February at Rs 211.10 (209) a kg for RSS 4 on the National Multi Commodity Exchange.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 207 (205.50); RSS-5: 198 (198); ungraded: 188 (188); ISNR 20: 198 (198) and latex 60 per cent: 127.50 (127.50).






Spot rubber improves on supply concern



KOTTAYAM, AUG. 30:
Spot rubber gained strength on Tuesday. The market sought further highs catalysed by sharp gains in domestic futures though a part of the trading community believed that the prices were manipulated by speculators. International indices also ended on a positive note as TOCOM rubber futures rose to a three-week high following the gains in oil and equities. Volumes were comparatively low.

Sheet rubber firmed up to Rs 212 (209) a kg, as quoted by the traders. The grade improved to Rs 210 (207) a kg both at Kottayam and Kochi, according to the Rubber Board.

The September series increased sharply to Rs 219 (213.10), October to Rs 217.01 (211.18), November to Rs 216.60 (211.06), December to Rs 217.02 (211.25), January to Rs 219.15 (213.03) and February to Rs 220.40 (214.00) a kg for RSS 4 on the National Multi Commodity Exchange.

RSS 3 (spot) inched up to Rs 214.91 (214.15) a kg at Bangkok. The September futures for the grade bounced back to ¥362.9 (Rs 217.56) from ¥352 a kg during the day session and then to ¥363 (Rs 217.69) in the night session on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 212 (209); RSS-5: 203 (200); ungraded: 197 (193); ISNR 20: 201 (198) and latex 60 per cent: 130 (129).