Crude rubber stocks held at Japanese warehouses fell to a five-month low of 16,717 tonnes as of June 10, down 4.2 percent from 17,458 tonnes on May 31, the Rubber Trade Association of Japan said on Friday. The latest inventory level was the lowest since 14,279 tonnes recorded on January 10, although it was above the 15,910 tonnes recorded on June 10 last year.
Rubber traders said the market was watching whether domestic stocks would fall sharply from the current level in the next several weeks. Inventories had dropped sharply last summer due to an unexpected slump in physical rubber supply, and that helped boost the most active rubber futures contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange to above 320 yen a kg, the highest for any benchmark since 1980.
TOCOM rubber futures dropped 1.7 percent on Friday as a seasonal rise in physical supply and bearish technical charts weighed on the market. The key TOCOM rubber contract for November delivery closed at 265.5 yen, down 4.5 yen from the previous close.