Archive for June 9th, 2009
Rubber Declines for a Second Day on Stronger Yen, Thai Supplies
Rubber declined for a second day in Tokyo as supplies increased from Thailand, the world’s biggest producer, and the Japanese currency gained against the dollar, encouraging investors to sell the yen-denominated contracts.
The commodity slid as much as 1.5 percent after the yen recovered from a one-month low against the dollar. Thai farmers have also offered to sell more rubber than in previous months, Rewat Yenchai, an analyst at Bangkok-based AGROW Enterprise Co., said yesterday.
“The yen is the biggest factor right now,” Navarat Kaewpratarn, a marketing official at Future Agri Trade Ltd., said by phone in Bangkok today. “There is also a lingering concern that demand’s still lagging supply.”
Production in Thailand typically increases in June following the end of the so-called wintering season, when trees shed leaves and produce less latex.
Natural rubber for November delivery, the most-active contract, dropped 0.5 percent to 167.9 yen a kilogram ($1,709 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange as of 11:30 a.m. local time. The dollar traded at 98.26 yen, falling from 98.55 earlier. The yen fell to 98.89 on June 5, the lowest since May 8.
