SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures dipped on Tuesday tracking Shanghai losses, while weaker crude prices discouraged a switch to natural rubber from synthetic rubber which is derived from oil.

The Osaka Exchange rubber contract for September delivery was down 1.2 yen, or 0.5 %, at 252.9 yen ($2.05) per kg as of 0139 GMT.

U.S. crude futures slid in early trade, extending losses fromMonday on the prospect of a sharp drop in fuel demand as Shanghai shut down to curb a surge in COVID-19 cases and as Ukraine and Russia headed for peace talks.

Ukraine said its top objective at the first face-to-face talks with Russia in over two weeks, due to take place in Turkey later in the day, is to secure a ceasefire, although both it and the United States were skeptical of a major breakthrough.

U.S. new vehicle sales could fall to the lowest first-quarter volume in the past decade as chip shortages and the Ukraine crisis squeeze inventories and rising prices push less affluent buyers out of the market, research firm Cox Automotive said Monday.

Rubber: Japan futures rise again

The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery was down 40 yuan, or 0.3%, at 13,355 yuan ($2,097.73) per tonne.

China's financial hub Shanghai reported a record 4,381 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and 96 symptomatic cases for March 28, the city government said on its official WeChat account.

The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for April delivery last traded at 172.0 U.S. cents per kg, unchanged from the previous day.