Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures ended down 1.5 percent on Tuesday, marking their first decline in five sessions, due to profit-taking after having hit an 11-month high a day earlier.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) futures, which set the tone for tyre rubber prices in Southeast Asia, had been previously buoyed by China's rate cut, a weaker yen and wintering in North Sumatra, a key rubber producing region in Indonesia, which tightens supplies in Souteast Asia.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for August delivery finished 3.4 yen lower at 218.7 yen per kg.
"The markets were in profit-taking mode after seeing Shanghai futures fall," said a Tokyo-based broker. Industry sources said last week's regional rubber producers' meeting in Indonesia likely agreed to continue cooperating with one another to shore up prices.
"They likely did not come up with any specific measure (to support prices) as producers have diverse interests," the broker said.
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 12,489 tonnes as of Feb. 20, down 3.1 percent from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Monday.
The US dollar was quoted around 119.65 yen, compared with around 119.85 on Monday afternoon.
The benchmark rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for May delivery fell 370 yuan to finish at 13,595 yuan per tonne. The most active contract was the September contract, which ended down 430 yuan at 12,895 yuan.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for April delivery last traded at 141.90 US cents per kg, down 2 cents.
