TOKYO—Natural rubber futures pricing has continued on an upward track for a fifth straight week as market sentiment remained positive for the commodity.
All major Far East markets closed the trading week ended June 7 higher compared to the previous week, "as consumers and Chinese players added fresh speculative long positions," according to the Japan Exchange Group (JPX).
In Osaka, Japan, OSE rubber futures for November delivery surged by 4.7 percent week-on-week, reaching its highest level in seven years, according to the latest weekly JPX trading report June 10.
In China, SHFE and INE futures saw gains of 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, while Singapore's SICOM climbed 2.6 percent week-on-week on "short covering," to reach a three-year high.
Markets were driven by unconfirmed news of the Chinese government planning to buy 70,000 metric tons of NR for stockpiling, according to the report.
Furthermore, JPX noted some arbitrage buying, which was likely influenced by a sharp rally in synthetic rubber futures traded on the Shanghai exchange.
In other related news, Cote d'Ivoire was reported to have increased its rubber production in 2023 by 30 percent year-on-year to 1.7 million tons.
According to JPX, the African country has now overtaken Vietnam to become the third-largest NR producer, after Thailand and Indonesia.
