The Rubber Market Remains Firm

Rubber futures and physical markets mostly retreated on 24 November from a day earlier in the wake of persistent concern about the Korean standoff, the euro zone debt crisis and expectations of further measures by Beijing to cool down its economy, according to Reuters on 24 November.

On 25 November, the new benchmark May Tocom rubber contract settled higher, following strong gains on Wall Street and Tokyo’s Nikkei index, rising commodity and oil prices. However, the most active rubber contract on Shanghai rubber futures settled lower on the same day as a recent government crackdown on excessive speculation in commodities and monetary tightening measures still weighed on the market, according to Dow Jones.

On the physical front, rubber prices mostly settled slightly higher on 25 November because of persistent supply tightness in producing countries and steady demand from tire and non-tire manufacturers whereas rubber exporters and importers were still cautious about price volatility on rubber futures. IRCo’s DCP almost reached 430 US cents/kg on the same day.

DESCRIPTION	24 NOV	25 NOV	CHANGE	% CHANGE	UNIT
IRCo's DCP	428.64	429.49	0.85		0.20%	US cents/kg
TOCOM/RSS3 *
- Dec. 10	354.90	359.60	4.70		1.32%	Yen/kg
- May. 11	359.50	362.70	3.20		0.89%	Yen/kg
SHFE/RSS3 **	31,980	31,975	-5		-0.02%	Yuan/ton
AFET/RSS3
- Dec. 10	130.00	130.00	0.00		0.00%	THB/kg
- Jun 11	130.50	129.00	-1.50		-1.15%	THB/kg
RRIT ***
- RSS3	131.50	131.80	0.30		0.23%	THB/kg
- STR20	129.70	130.00	0.30		0.23%	THB/kg
SIR20 ****	425.00	425.00	0.00		0.00%	US cents/kg
SMR20 ****	433.00	435.00	2.00		0.46%	US cents/kg

Source: IRCo

Note: * The day sessions, the spot and benchmark months on 24 Nov. were Nov.10./Apr.11

** The highest daily trading volume was May. 2011

*** RRIT means Rubber Research Institute of Thailand

**** Offer, f.o.b., Asian physical rubber prices for Dec./Jan. delivery, Dow Jones

Looking at some relevant factors, the U.S. unemployment claims fell more-than-expected 34,000 last week from the previous week to 407,000, according to Agence France Presse on 26 November. In Europe, the European Commission is pushing to double the size of Europe’s 440 billion euro (US$586.52 billion) bailout fund for indebted euro zone countries, according to WSJ on 26 November. Investors are still cautious ahead of the release of November’s inflation in China, said some investors. These variables are expected to be taken into consideration by the rubber market next week.

(Source: http://www.irco.biz/BlogMoreDetial.php?id=2715&ShowContent=news%20&PHPSESSID=b2ccb645ea1552664592e322c3612e31)