TOKYO—Beginning Oct. 9, the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM) will be listing technically specified rubber futures contracts, a move that it says comes "in response to changing market demand."
TSR classified natural rubber, like ribbed smoked sheet, serves as a key components in tire production, but the production and consumption of TSR has exceeded that of RSS in recent years, TOCOM said. The hope, it added, is that the rubber market will improve with the listing.
Speaking to European Rubber Journal, a TOCOM spokesman said the listing of TSR is expected to increase the volume of rubber trading significantly at the exchange.
"This listing will increase the convenience of our rubber market for Japan's rubber industry, the world's largest rubber consumer, as well as China and producers in Thailand and Indonesia," Takamichi Hamada, TOCOM CEO and president, said.