TOKYO: Benchmark Tokyo rubber futures fell 1.5 percent on Monday to close at a one-week low, coming under pressure from a drop in oil prices after a meeting by major producers fell apart over the weekend, and a jump in the safe-haven yen.
Oil prices tumbled after a meeting by major exporters in Qatar collapsed without an agreement to freeze output, leaving the credibility of the OPEC producer cartel in tatters.
The U.S. dollar was trading at around 108.32 yen on Monday afternoon, compared with about 109.35 yen on Friday afternoon.
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange rubber contract for September delivery finished 2.8 yen lower at 187.5 yen per kg.
Tyre maker Bridgestone Corp halted production at its Kumamoto plant which makes rubber hoses after a series of earthquakes measuring up to 7.3 magnitude struck a southern manufacturing hub, and will resume production once the situation is assessed.
"Weaker oil prices and a stronger yen combined to the rubber decline," said a source with a Tokyo-based broker. "Despite the halt at the Bridgestone plant, there was not much impact on the rubber supply/demand."
Crude rubber inventories at Japanese ports stood at 12,624 tonnes as of March. 31, down 3.1 percent from the last inventory date, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed on Monday.
The most-active rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange for September delivery fell 45 yuan to finish at 12,510 yuan per tonne.
The front-month rubber contract on Singapore's SICOM exchange for May delivery last traded at 147.60 U.S. cents per kg, down 1.8 cent.
