Japanese rubber futures closed higher on Friday as investors scoured for bargains after prices fell to three-week low, ignoring signs of further disruption to auto production due to shortages chips and components.
Osaka Exchange’s rubber contract for May delivery ended at 0.4 yen, or 0.2%, up to 229.1 yen ($ 2.02) per kg after hovering around its lowest level since November 19 at 225.4 yen the day before.
For the week, it posted a loss of 4.8%, its second consecutive weekly decline.
The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for delivery in May rose 105 yuan to end at 14,490 yuan ($ 2,276) per ton.
Auto sales in China fell 9.1% in November from a year earlier, industry data showed on Friday, marking their seventh consecutive monthly decline amid a prolonged global shortage of semi- drivers disrupts production.
Toyota Motor Co on Friday extended production shutdowns at some factories in Japan due to a shortage of components shipped from parts factories in Southeast Asia.
Rubber stocks in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 3.1% from last Friday, the exchange said on Friday.
The first-month rubber contract on Singapore’s SICOM stock exchange for January delivery last traded at 170.5 US cents per kg, up 0.1%.
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“Investors remained concerned about falling auto sales in China as well as the slow recovery in auto production hit by a global semiconductor shortage,” said Jiong Gu, analyst at Yutaka Shoji Co.
“The outlook from here is probably a little more bullish and we’re probably more likely to see consumption pick up early next year, as the latest data from China suggests it may be. coming to fruition in terms of import-export activity, ”added Wolf.
