Natural rubber futures mixed ahead of Chinese New Year

TOKYO—Natural rubber futures closed the trading week ended Jan. 26 with mixed results across major rubber exchanges.

In Japan, OSE rubber futures rallied 5.8 percent, driven by fresh speculative buying amid a weaker Japanese Yen against the U.S. dollar, according Japan Exchange Group's (JPX) Jan. 29 report.

By contrast, China's SHFE and INE futures fell 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, influenced by "long liquidation and speculative selling." And in Singapore, SICOM futures dropped marginally in "quiet trading amid profit-taking."

According to JPX, traders have been adjusting their positions ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays in February, which will contribute to potential reductions in trading volume in the coming weeks.

JPX also noted recent industry developments, including a report that Cote d'Ivoire, commonly known as the Ivory Coast, had overtaken Vietnam as the world's third largest world NR producer in 2023.

With output of just under 1.5 million metric tons, Cote d'Ivoire overtook Vietnam, which produced 1.39 million tons, the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries estimated. The top two NR producers remained unchanged, with Thailand at 4.87 million tons and Indonesia at 3.2 million tons.

Other significant developments, JPX said, included: China's Wanli Tyre plans to build a new rubber factory in Cambodia; a Bridgestone upgrade project at its tire plant in Wuxi, China; and a Yokohama Rubber upgrade of its tire plant in the Philippines.

JPX also noted that the U.S. had reported a more robust than expected fourth quarter GDP at 3.3 percent, while the crude oil WTI settled higher at $78.23 per barrel.

The latter trend, JPX said, reflected "stronger economic data, tension in the Red Sea and optimism regarding China's economic recovery."