"Are you or the collective aware of any listed companies that produce rubber for the tyre industry? Many thanks"

Eoin Treacy's view Thank you for this interesting question. I've performed a number of reviews of tyre and rubber companies over the last year, the most recent of which was posted in Comment of the Day on January 19th.

Rubber prices, in common with a number of agricultural commodities, have surged over the last few months to hit historic highs. The Tokyo and Shanghai have hit peaks of at least near-term significance this week and pulled back sharply. The Singapore contract has held up better but is equally likely to have entered a reversionary phase.

Some of the shares reviewed on January 19th have performed quite impressively but this probably reflects increased auto demand rather than any particular leverage to the rubber price which is probably more a source of margin compression for such companies.

I have not found many companies that specialise in rubber plantations. Most are either state owned or also have palm oil, cocoa or coffee plantations. If subscribers can suggest any additional companies I would be happy to add them to the Chart Library.

Perusahaan Perkebunan London Sumatra Indonesia is a diversified Indonesian company with interests in rubber plantations along with other agricultural interests. It broke upwards in September and hit a medium-term peak in November. It has unwound its overbought condition relative to the 200-day MA and an upward dynamic would confirm support above, or in the region of, the psychological IDR10,000.

GMG Global, listed in Singapore, is a holding company with interests in rubber plantations. It has pulled back to test the 200-day MA and needs to rally from current levels to confirm support in this area.

Socfinasia is listed in Luxembourg, has a market cap of €591 million, yields 8.57% and invests in companies that own rubber plantations. The share has been consolidating below €600 since November and has almost completely unwound its overbought condition relative to the 200-day MA. The impressive yield is likely to help cushion downside potential and a sustained move below €550 would be required to question the consistency of the medium-term uptrend.