The amount of rubber used to make tyres in Japan rose 6.3 percent in December from a year to 109,480 tonnes, data released by the Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers' Association showed on Tuesday. Tyres shipped domestically in the month contained a total of 48,826 tonnes of rubber, up 0.2 percent from a year. Exported tyres contained 59,285 tonnes, up 10 percent.

For 2004, a total of about 1.29 million tonnes of rubber was used to make tyres in Japan, up 3.7 percent from a year, the association said.

Copyright Reuters, 2005