By Rattaphol Onsanit
July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Rubber dropped for a sixth time in seven days in Tokyo on concern demand from China may not be enough to counter falling consumption elsewhere.
The commodity, used to produce tires, lost as much as 2 percent today as shares of Japanese car makers slid on speculation a strengthening yen will crimp sales. China’s passenger-vehicle sales rose 48 percent in June, the biggest jump since February 2006.
“Investors are looking at how Japan is doing economically,” Navarat Kaewpratarn, marketing official at Future Agri Trade Co. said by phone from Bangkok. “That sometimes has a greater weight than positive news about demand from China.”
Natural rubber for December delivery lost 0.3 percent to 156.7 yen a kilogram ($1,681 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange at 12:45 p.m. local time.
Prices slumped as much as 4.7 percent yesterday on concern that demand for the raw material may falter amid a global recession.
Honda Motor Co., which makes 51 percent of its revenue in North America, dropped 2.3 percent after the yen rose to a four- month high against the dollar. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell as much as 1.2 percent today.
Rubber for November delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-active contract, added 0.8 percent to 15,355 yuan ($2,247) a ton at the 11:30 a.m. local time break.
China’s passenger-vehicle sales advanced in June as tax cuts and government subsidies helped the nation extend its lead over the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market this year.
Chinese motorists bought 872,900 cars, sport-utility vehicles and other passenger vehicles last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement today. In the first half, vehicle sales surpassed the tally in the U.S. by about 27 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rattaphol Onsanit in Bangkok at ronsanit@bloomberg.net
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