Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for rubber prices in Southeast Asia, fell for a third week to hit around a 1-month low on Friday, as weaker Shanghai prices and a rally in the yen weighed on the market.
The benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rubber contract for August delivery finished 2.0 yen, or 1.1 percent, lower at 189.8 yen ($1.72) per kg. It earlier touched its lowest since Feb. 19 at 188.9 yen and for the week, was down 1.7 percent.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 75 yuan to finish at 11,880 yuan ($1,770) per tonne.
Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8 percent from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
In the rice-growing heartland of Thailand's northeast, Kamol Suanpanya, 80, meets in the off season with fellow farmers at a community centre, where they discuss Sunday's election, the first after nearly five years of military rule.
TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for September delivery closed down 0.9 percent at 167.5 yen per kg
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery last traded at 148.0 US cents per kg, down 0.4 percent.
The US dollar was quoted around 110.45 yen, compared with around 111.52 yen on Wednesday afternoon. Tokyo markets were closed on Thursday due to a national holiday. A stronger yen makes yen-denominated assets less affordable when purchased in other currencies.