Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures fell to a near two-week low and ended down 2.1 percent on Thursday, due to a stronger yen and a 2.9 percent rise in Japanese rubber inventories. The benchmark rubber contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) for November delivery fell 4.2 yen to settle at 200.4 yen ($1.97) per kg. The contract fell to as low as 200.2 yen, the lowest since May 16.
"Despite the rise in Shanghai futures, TOCOM cannot rise due to a strong yen/dollar," said Kaname Gokon, general manager of research at broker Okato Shoji. "Overall, the market sentiment is basically turning downward." A Thai administrative court will need several days of hearings before it can rule on a petition by farmers to halt government plans to sell 200,000 tonnes of state rubber stocks, a court spokesman said late on Wednesday.
The government, which bought the stocks from farmers in an intervention scheme running from October 2012 to May 2013 in order to prop up prices, had intended to sell the stocks last month. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 165 yuan to finish at 14,300 yuan per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for June delivery last traded at 171.00 US cents per kg, down 0.7 cent.