Rubber Futures Report (May 2022 – 05 May 2022)

World rubber futures prices closed the week mixed in short trading days. OSE RSS3 had two trading days for the Golden Week holidays but returned to close on Friday +0.8% higher. SHFE and INE rubber futures closed almost unchanged, while SICOM rubber futures were -2.6% due to fresh speculative selling pressure. The concern of the slowing Chinese economy and continued lockdowns in some major cities had prompted additional selling on the rubber markets. There was also active roll trading on the INE market from June to July contracts. Global equity markets slipped this week with tumultuous trading surrounding the decision of the US Fed to raise the Fed Funds Rate by 0.5% in light of fighting high inflation pressure. Additional rate hikes are widely expected at the next FOMC meeting on 14-15 June. On economic news,
the US April Unemployment Rate was unchanged at 3.6%, but Non-farm Payrolls were stronger at 428,000. China’s April Manufacturing PMI dropped by 2.1 to 47.4, weaker than expected. Overall crude oil prices rose sharply in response to lower US inventories and the continued war in Ukraine.