Rubber Prices Future Gain as Investors Interest in Alternatives Assets

Rubber traded in Tokyo has gained 43 percent in the past year. Futures gained as much as 1.8 percent today as a drop in the dollar against the euro renewed investor interest in commodities as alternative assets. Cooper rose $1.08, or 5.7 percent, to $20.02 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the most since July 13. Goodyear gained 37 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $11.16.

Cooper, which had $2.78 billion in revenue last year, sells replacement tires for cars and light trucks. Its customers include wholesalers and tire retailers, including National Tire & Battery and Big O Tires, both owned by Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., the two largest U.S. tiremakers, plan to raise prices as much as 6.5 percent starting next month to recoup higher raw-material costs.

Goodyear?s increase of as much as 6 percent is for all replacement tire brands in the U.S. and Canada, a spokesman, Jim Davis, said today in a telephone interview. Cooper is boosting prices as much as 6.5 percent in November, Curtis Schneekloth, a spokesman, said in an interview.

Goodyear and Cooper said they?re responding to materials costs that have climbed in the past year, including a gain in the price of rubber. Both companies said they last raised retail prices in June.

Goodyear, the largest U.S. tiremaker, had revenue of $16.3 billion last year. The Akron, Ohio-based manufacturer sold 50 million replacement tires in North America in 2009, and the third quarter is the company?s busiest period for replacement tire sales.