Hanoi (Platts)--26Nov2012/421 am EST/921 GMT

Natural rubber stocks in Shanghai warehouses stood at 90,325 mt as of November 23, up 35% from 66,675 mt on November 16, due to weak local demand, market participants said Monday.

Traders said local spot buying had slowed down because of poor demand from downstream tire makers, who had either stopped or reduced production rates.

The buildup came about even though imports to China slowed.

China imported 170,000 mt of natural rubber in October, down 19% from 210,000 mt in September, data released November 22 by the General Administration of Customs showed.

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The October imports were also down by about 23% from the 220,000 mt reported in the corresponding month of 2011.

Including the October figures, the country's overall imports from January to October stood at 1.75 million mt, up 5% from 1.66 million mt in the first 10 months last year.

To help support the local market, China plans to buy 60,000 mt of natural rubber by the end of 2012 for the state's stockpiles, targeting a total of 200,000 mt in 2013, the China Securities Journal said November 16. The government will buy the 60,000 mt at Yuan 24,600($3,917)/mt, it said.

--Clement Choo, clement_choo@platts.com --Edited by Haripriya Banerjee, haripriya_banerjee@platts.com

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