RUBBER-Japan futures gain on firmer oil prices

By Ruth Chai

Jan 22 (Reuters) -

• Japanese rubber futures gained on Thursday, supported by firmer oil prices.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for June delivery JRUc6, 0#2JRU: closed up 4.20 yen, or 1.2%, at 353.1 yen ($2.22) per kg.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for May delivery SNRv1 rose 175 yuan, or 1.12%, to 15,850 yuan ($2,276.64) per metric ton.

• The most active March butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE SHBRv1 rose 550 yuan, or 4.69%, to 12,270 yuan per metric ton.

• Oil prices edged up on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted down tension with Europe over his demand for Greenland, while disruptions in supply from two large fields in Kazakhstan and a better demand outlook for 2026 lent support. O/R

• Natural rubber prices often move in tandem with oil prices as it competes for market share with butadiene rubber, which is made from crude oil.

• Downstream demand for butadiene rubber is in a seasonal lull, but firmness in prices should persist due to favourable export conditions and high operating rates in factories making styrene-butadiene rubber and butadiene rubber, Huatai Futures Research Institute said in a note on Thursday.

• However, declining profitability has restricted factories from increasing output, and high butadiene rubber prices would lead to fewer purchases of raw material, it added.

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for February delivery STFc1 last traded at 181.4 U.S. cents per kg, up 0.3% as of 0700 GMT.
  ($1 = 158.7900 yen)
  ($1 = 6.9620 yuan)