SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures fell on Friday to end the month lower, due to subdued rubber demand and supply recovery post-wintering.

The December Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract closed down 4.1 yen, or 1.23%, to 328.5 yen ($2.04) per kg. The contract declined 3.67% in June, even as it posted a 0.31% weekly gain after losses for two consecutive weeks. The September rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell 105 yuan to 14,955 yuan ($2,058.10) per metric ton.

“OSE tracks the Thai raw material situation closely and as wintering period ended, raw material prices averaged down and normalized since early June,” said Farah Miller, CEO of independent rubber-focused data firm Helixtap Technologies. Prices of top producer Thailand’s benchmark export-grade smoked rubber sheet (RSS3) and block rubber (STR20) fell 14.2% and 6.76%, respectively in June.

Thailand’s meteorological agency warned of “heavy to very heavy rains and accumulations that may cause flash flood and runoff” from June 28-July 3.

Operations at all-steel radial tyre factories in top consumer China remain muted, compared to the previous month, China-based consultancy Longzhong said in a report, adding that high temperatures had reduced the production capacity of tyre factories to some extent.

The yen continued to languish near a 38-year low on the weaker side of 160 per dollar. A weaker currency makes yen-denominated assets more affordable to overseas buyers.