Tokyo rubber futures hit six-week low

Singapore (march 08, 2011) : tokyo rubber futures fell more than 3 percent to their weakest in almost six weeks on monday, as equities dropped on fears that more turmoil in the middle east and soaring oil prices could weigh on the global economy. the most active tokyo rubber contract, august 2011, fell as low as 451.3 yen a kg, its weakest since jan 26, before settling at 456.2 yen, down 12.2 yen from friday's settlement. the contract touched an all-time high around 535 yen in february.
shanghai rubber futures shrugged off declines in tocom. the most active may contract ended at 38,675 yuan a tonne, up from friday's close of 38,030 yuan. the physical market lacked activity, with main consumer china waiting for more declines in the price of tyre grade. "we don't see any offers today, but there were deals on friday at $5.01 and $5.03 a kg," said a dealer in indonesia's main growing island of sumatra.
"we are hoping that china will come back to buy, but of course we won't know when." from booming car sales in china and strong demand from european and us tyre-makers to bad weather crimping supply, the rubber market shows little sign of losing its bounce, with prices set to stay around record levels for months to come.