Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures slid on Friday, tracking Shanghai futures, on high inventories and flat demand. The benchmark TOCOM rubber contract for October delivery finished 1.7 yen ($0.0152) lower at 189.3 yen per kg. For the week, TOCOM rose 0.8 yen. The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 215 yuan ($31.91) to finish at 11,270 yuan per tonne.
TOCOM's technically specified rubber (TSR) 20 futures contract for November delivery closed at 167.8 yen per kg, down 1.2 yen from the open price of 169 yen per kg. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for May delivery last traded at 150.3 US cents per kg, down 0.7 percent.
"Rubber was dragged down by fall of chemical and industrial commodity futures. Investors are bearish on rubber, betting on high inventories and flat demand," said Zhao Wenting, an analyst with Dongwu Futures. The US dollar was quoted around 111.64 yen, compared with around 111.62 yen on Thursday afternoon.
Oil prices dipped on Friday on expectations that producer club OPEC will soon raise output to make up for a decline in exports from Iran following a hardening of sanctions on Tehran by the United States.