Japan futures rebound as Thai floods squeeze supply, oil climbs

By Emily Ou Yong

Sept 30 (Reuters) - Japanese rubber futures rebounded on Wednesday, supported by stronger physical prices in Thailand after floods disrupted tapping in producing areas, while firmer oil prices also lent support to the market.

• The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for March delivery , was up 9.9 yen, or 2.23%, at 454 yen ($2.90) per kg, as of 0210 GMT.

• The rubber contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for January delivery surged 880 yuan, or 4.62%, to 19,920 yuan ($2,971.09) per metric ton. It touched its highest since February 20, 2017, earlier in the day.

• The most-active November butadiene rubber contract on the SHFE rose 585 yuan, or 3.8%, to 15,975 yuan per ton.

• Top rubber producer Thailand's meteorological agency warned of severe thundershowers from October 4-5, which could disrupt tapping operations.

• Heavy rains and floods have hit 42 provinces across Thailand since September 16, killing at least 23 people, the Thai interior ministry said on Tuesday.

• Thai rubber prices have strengthened significantly over the past two days, reflecting a rebound in weather premiums, analysts from broker Huatai Futures said in a note.

• Oil prices rose on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump denied he would be willing to ease sanctions on Iran while Qatar pushed for peace talks. O/R

• Natural rubber often takes direction from oil prices as it competes for market share with synthetic rubber, which is made from crude oil.

• Total natural rubber inventory in Qingdao, China, stood at 575,200 tons, as of September 27, down 1.73% from the previous week, data from commodity information provider Longzhong Information showed.

• The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange's SICOM platform for December delivery last traded at 253.9 U.S. cents per kg, up 3.7%.

($1 = 156.7600 yen)

($1 = 6.7046 Chinese yuan)