Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended up 1.3 percent to settle at a 10-month high on Friday amid shorter supply of the raw material in Indonesia and expectations of tightness elsewhere. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, got support as wintering has begun in North Sumatra. The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for July delivery finished 2.9 yen higher at 220.4 yen per kg, the highest settlement since early April 2014.
There was thin trading on the Shanghai futures exchange ahead of China's week-long Lunar New Year holidays. The most-active rubber contract for May delivery rose 340 yuan to finish at 13,925 yuan per tonne. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for March delivery last traded at 142.80 US cents per kg, up 1.8 cent.