Rubber falls, sugar surplus forecast cut

TOKYO/LONDON: Rubber futures in Tokyo extended their decline last week as the Japanese currency strengthened, reducing the appeal of yen-denominated futures.

The contract for delivery in October on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell as much as 3.3% to 265.9 yen a kilogramme ($2,616 a tonne) and was at 271.6 yen at 3.08pm, increasing the loss for the week to 6.2%.

The yen rose against all major peers as stocks reversed an earlier advance and Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank had announced sufficient monetary easing. ‘‘With higher stockpiles in China and Japan, the yen’s strength against the dollar reduced the value of Japanese currency-based futures,’’ Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at research company JSC Corp in Tokyo, said by phone. ‘‘Yesterday [Thursday]’s data showing China’s manufacturing shrank for the first time in seven months also kept downward pressure,’’ he said.

Rubber for delivery in September on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.4% to 19,470 yuan ($3,177) a tonne.

Thai rubber free-on-board was unchanged at 91.15 baht a kg, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand. It was the highest level since Feb 22.

Meanwhile, the global sugar surplus in the 2013-14 season will be 12% smaller than initially estimated as leading producer Brazil, Russia and the European Union have smaller-thanforecast crops, said Kingsman SA.

Sugar output will be 4.9 million tonnes higher than demand in the 12 months starting Oct 1, down from a previous forecast of 5.6 million tonnes, the Lausanne, Switzerlandbased unit of McGraw-Hill Financial Inc’s Platts said in a report e- mailed on Friday. On a national crop year-basis, which begins when the harvest starts in each country, the surplus was reduced by 27% to 4.6 million tonnes, data from the researcher showed.

Global sugar production will be 177.9 million tonnes in the 12 months starting in October, the researcher estimates. That compares with a previous forecast of 178.5 million tonnes and with 182.2 million tonnes in 2012-13. Consumption in the period will be little changed from the earlier estimate at 172.95 million tonnes. In 2012-13, demand is forecast at 170.4 million tonnes.

Sugar production in Thailand, the second-biggest exporter, will rise to 10.3 million tonnes next season compared with 10.2 million tonnes now, Kingsman said.