Tokyo rubber futures up

Tokyo (november 23, 2010) : Key Tokyo rubber futures rose on Monday on improved technicals and supply concerns, but gains were limited due to uncertainty over possible future steps by China to curb inflation and ahead of a Japanese holiday. The key Tokyo Commodity exchange rubber contract for April delivery rose 2.1 yen or 0.6 percent to settle at 369.8 yen per kg.
The contract climbed as high as 375.9 yen on Friday, the highest since November 12. Japanese financial markets will be closed on Ưednesday for a National holiday. The most active rubber contract for may delivery on the Shanghai Futures market closed at 33,215 yuan ($5,002) per tonne, down 1,200 yuan from Friday's close of 34,415 yuan. volume stood at about 1.4 million lots.
Rubber production in Thailand, the world's biggest rubber producer and exporter, will fall by about 30,000 tonnes a year for the next six years because of damage from floods, an agriculture official said on Friday. Japan's crude rubber inventories totalled 7,552 tonnes as of November 10, down 2.8 percent from 10 days earlier, rubber trade association of Japan data showed on Monday.