CHINA has posted a 7.7% to 320,300 units rise in truck sales in March from a year earlier, according to a data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
According to Orient Futures Co. analyst Yan Xinbin, the positive sales bode well for consumption of natural rubber, which has dropped 8.5% this year on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Bloomberg reported that truck sales in the first three months were 741,573 units, about 5.3%% higher from the same period a year ago.
For September, rubber delivery in Tokyo fell 0.1% to 277.5 yen/kilogramme (US$2,787 a tonne) at 10:37 a.m. local time.
Yan also noted that China’s enforcement of an environmentally more strict Euro IV standard for trucks starting July 1 will also bolster sales for the old-model trucks in the months prior the standards implementation.