Rubber Futures in Tokyo Surge to 28-Year High as Oil Rallies

(Bloomberg) — Rubber futures in Tokyo jumped to the highest in 28 years as record oil prices made synthetic rubber more expensive, increasing the attraction of the natural product.

Rubber also gained as much as 3.4 percent as Chinese stockpiles fell for an eleventh week. The futures often move in the same direction as crude oil because the synthetic rival is made from naphtha, distilled from petroleum.


Exporters in Thailand, the largest producer, today raised offer prices because of slow production, increasing costs for Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s largest automaker, and tire producer Bridgestone Corp., which forecasts a 32 percent decline in profit this year as raw material prices rise. China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, is increasing imports as economic growth drives demand for cars and trucks.

“Both natural and synthetic rubber are used for tires and increased prices are negative for earnings of tire makers and carmakers,” Jun Nishimuta, an analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, said today by phone. “Rising material prices may eventually weaken demand.”

Bloomberg