News.... The Central Government has enhanced the duty of excise(cess) on rubber under the Rubber Act 1947 from Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 2.00 per kilogram with

News.... The Central Government has enhanced the duty of excise(cess) on rubber under the Rubber Act 1947 from Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 2.00 per kilogram with effect from 1st September 2011

Visit THE RUBBER BOARD website for the news at

http://www.rubberboard.org.in/





Are We Facing a Tire Shortage?
September 10, 2011





Increasing global car demand could lead to domestic Japanese synthetic rubber and tire shortage, but there are other implications, too.
Japanese vehicle makers are set to increase their production output between October 2011 and March 2012 and this is likely to lead to a shortage of synthetic rubber.

At roughly the same time Bridgestone Corp. notified OEMs that orders for passenger car tires are likely exceed its domestic production capacity, concerns were raised that the country could be in line for both a synthetic rubber and a domestic replacement tire shortage.
According to an official statement Bridgestone released to the Nikkei, the company is expected to face a shortage of an estimated 500,000 tires this year, roughly 5% of domestic OEM orders received.

The regulatory filing went on to explain that Bridgestone’s seven domestic plants making passenger car tires are “operating around the clock and have no room to raise output.” Bringing in tires is the obvious option, but “procuring tires from plants overseas appears to be difficult due to strong demand there,” the Nikkei report said.

And this is all set against an increase in global output from the Japanese-based global carmakers. Toyota and seven other major manufacturers of passenger cars projected a 2% year-on-year increase in global output in the six months to end-March 2012, with major hikes planned in Japan, platts.com reported.

Market analysts, including a response from Morgan Stanley, added further light to the comments, summarizing the Bridgestone announcement as hinging on two key issues: it might not be able to keep pace with increasing demand next year and is preparing to increase production by January; and it has no plans to increase prices further to counter higher raw material costs.

The latter point is perhaps the more surprising of the two as it comes after a long period of price increases from tire manufacturers across the board who have all responded to sky-high input costs by increasing prices.

Morgan Stanley’s concurred with this analysis and even put it a grade stronger. These comments “appear in sharp contradiction” the bankers said in an investor’s note published Sept. 5, adding: “high demand and low capacity are usually the perfect environment to raise tire prices – this is what the tire industry has consistently done in the last 12 months.”

Their view, based on comments from peers in the tire industry, is that it is becoming clear that volumes are softening in the developed markets. “Hence, one potential explanation for the slightly odd statement above may simply be that we have a combination of growing capacity, softening demand and lower raw material costs,” the analysts surmised, with a warning: “If companies shift towards market share gain rather than price discipline we could see considerable more pricing pressure in 2012.”

The theory is that the global market may witness what Morgan Stanley referred to as a “huge decoupling” in its midst with the U.S. being the region described as most at risk, followed by Europe. “We think tire replacement markets in Latin America and China will surprise the bears as the key structural leading indicators (car parc, number of cars on the road) have been increasing at a much higher pace than in develop market.” (Tyres & Accessories)

Source: http://www.tirereview.com/Article/91568/Are-We-Facing-a-Tire-Shortage.aspx






Tokyo futures fall on global econ, debt worries (Sept 12)
September 12, 2011




TOKYO, Sept 12 (Reuters) – Key Tokyo rubber futures fell nearly two percent on Monday, as sentiment turned bearish on a drop in oil prices, concerns over the global economy and worries about Europe’s deepening debt crisis.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange <0#JRU:> for February delivery dropped 6.5 yen, or 1.8 percent, to 362.1 yen per kg.

* The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January was up 330 yuan to finish at 34,095 yuan ($5,340) per tonne on Friday. Volume stood at 668,824 lots.

* Chinese financial markets are closed on Monday for a holiday, reopening on Tuesday.

* The euro got off to a rocky start in Asia on Monday, falling to fresh six-month lows against the greenback and a 10-year trough on the yen as downside momentum picked up pace after several key technical levels gave way recently.

* Oil declined by about $1 on Monday with a stronger dollar, as investors shunned commodity risk because of Europe’s deepening sovereign debt crisis, while economic gloom dampened the outlook for energy use.

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

MARKET NEWS

* Big Japanese manufacturers turned optimistic about business conditions in the three months to September compared with the previous quarter, a survey showed on Monday, as a rapid recovery in supply chains and output following the March 11 natural disaster lifted sentiment.

* China’s key commodity imports, including crude oil, copper and iron ore, all climbed in August from the previous month, adding to evidence that demand in the world’s second-largest economy was still going strong despite the economic turmoil in the West.

* Group of Seven finance chiefs pledged on Friday to make a coordinated response to a slowdown in the global economy but offered few specifics and differed in emphasis on Europe’s debt crisis.

* Juergen Stark, the European Central Bank’s executive board member and chief economist, resigned unexpectedly on Friday in conflict with the bank’s policy of buying government bonds to combat the euro zone’s debt crisis.

* Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 11.9 percent last week, the exchange said on Friday.

* The Nikkei stock average fell on Monday after Wall Street tumbled.

* U.S. stocks fell more than 2 percent on Friday after the top German official at the European Central Bank resigned in protest of the bank’s bond-buying programme, which has been a major tool in fighting the region’s debt crisis.






Tokyo futures down as global economy (Sept 9)
September 10, 2011


BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Tokyo rubber futures ended slightly lower on Friday, with investors liquidating contracts to avoid risk amid lingering concerns about global economic uncertainty, dealers said.

The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange <0#JRU:> for February delivery fell 1.3 yen to settle at 368.6 yen ($4.7) per kg.

The most active Shanghai rubber contract for January was up 330 yuan to finish at 34,095 yuan ($5,340)per tonne.

“Players still worried about possible world economic contraction led by the U.S. and Europe problems. So they sold contract, made profit and stayed on sidelines ahead of the weekend,” one dealer said.

European debt concerns emerged again as Greece’s economy minister said on Thursday he expected the country’s budget deficit to be greater than the highly indebted country had agreed with international creditors.

On the U.S. side, many more Americans than expected filed new claims for jobless benefits, stoking worries about the economy.

Dealers said they expected TOCOM prices to stay firm next week as steadier oil prices should provide support.

However, upside was likely to be capped at a key psychological level of 375 yen by profit-taking, while 365 yen downside was seen as a strong support level, they said.

Brent crude edged up towards $115 a barrel on Friday, after falling more than a dollar in the previous session, supported by storm threats and uncertainty about U.S. President Barack Obama’s latest plan to revive the world’s largest economy.

($1 = 77.365 Japanese Yen)

($1 = 6.384 Chinese Yuan)

Source: http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/RUBBER-Tokyo-futures-global-rsg-3865316437.html





Malaysia: Rubber mart to continue uptrend
September 10, 2011





The Malaysian rubber market is expected to continue its uptrend next week amid the bad weather in major producing countries such as Thailand and Sumatera, Indonesia.

Dealers said the market was anticipated to follow movement on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) and the Shanghai Futures Exchange. For the week just-ended, the market traded mixed with falling futures prices on TOCOM weighing on prices.

“Players are still worried about possible world economic contraction led by the US and Europe problems.

The Malaysian Rubber Board’s official physical price for tyre-grade SMR 20 added 6.50 sen per kg to 1,388 sen while latex-in-bulk remained unchanged at 870 sen per kg.

The unofficial sellers’ closing price for tyre-grade SMR 20 advanced 7.5 sen per kg to 1,387 sen while latex-in-bulk rose three sen to Friday at 870.50 sen per kg. — Bernama

Source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110910134626/Article/index_html