RUBBER-Japan futures retreat as fresh US auto tariffs threat counter supply woes

SINGAPORE, Feb 19 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures pared gains on Wednesday, as fresh tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump on automobiles dampened demand prospects for the tyre-making material, outweighing supply woes in top producer Thailand.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for July delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: was down 4.3 yen, or 1.15%, at 369.8 yen ($2.43) per kg, as of 0223 GMT.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for May delivery SNRv1 dipped 45 yuan, or 0.25%, to 17,775 yuan ($2,440.72) per metric ton.

• The most active February butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE SHBRv1 fell 175 yuan, or 1.24%, to 13,905 yuan ($1,909.32) per ton.

• Trump said on Tuesday he intends to impose auto tariffs "in the neighborhood of 25%", the latest in a series of measures escalating trade-war tensions.

• Trump's tariffs could cost the auto industry $110 million in added costs each day and potentially $40 billion for the year without major production shifts, analysts said.

• Automobile sales could influence the intensity of manufacturing, which involves using rubber-made tyres.

• Some bearish traders believe demand is flat in China, and while the operating rate of downstream tyre companies has picked up, the inventory of finished products is higher than a year earlier, Chinese financial data provider Tonghuashun Information said.

• Farmers should look out for potential crop damage, with thundershowers, gusty wind and lightning strikes expected from February 22-24, Thailand's meteorological agency said.

• Chinese tech stocks continued to rally on Tuesday on optimism that President Xi Jinping's rare meeting with entrepreneurs foreshadowed a reversal in Beijing's treatment of private enterprises, after years of a sector-wide crackdown.

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for March delivery STFc1 last traded at 202 U.S. cents per kg, down 0.9%.

($1 = 152.1700 yen)

($1 = 7.2827 Chinese yuan)