Rubber declined for a second day in Tokyo as supplies increased from Thailand, the world’s biggest producer, and the Japanese currency gained against the dollar, encouraging investors to sell the yen-denominated contracts. The commodity slid as much as 1.5 percent after the yen recovered from a one-month low against the dollar. Thai farmers have also offered to sell more rubber than in previous months, Rewat Yenchai, an analyst at Bangkok-based AGROW Enterprise Co., said yesterday. “The yen is the biggest factor right now,” Navarat Kaewpratarn, a marketing official at Future Agri Trade Ltd., said by phone in Bangkok today. “There is also a lingering concern that demand’s still lagging supply.” Production in Thailand typically increases in June following the end of the so-called wintering season, when trees shed leaves and produce less latex. Natural rubber for November delivery, the most-active contract, dropped 0.5 percent to 167.9 yen a kilogram ($1,709 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange as of 11:30 a.m. local time. The dollar traded at 98.26 yen, falling from 98.55 earlier. The yen fell to 98.89 on June 5, the lowest since May 8. Rubber for September delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-active contract, slid 1.4 percent to 15,570 yuan ($2,278) a ton.

Source