SINGAPORE: Japanese rubber futures climbed to an almost one-month high on Wednesday, helped by stronger crude prices and tighter inventories amid wintering, although demand concerns lingered.

The Osaka Exchange (OSE) rubber contract for September delivery was up 3.5 yen, or 1.6%, to 214.5 yen ($1.60) per kg as of 0202 GMT, its highest since Mar. 15. The rubber contract on the Shanghai futures exchange (SHFE) for September delivery was up 90 yuan, or 0.8%, to 11,990 yuan ($1,742.96) per tonne.

Rubber inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.4 % from a week earlier, the exchange said last Friday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average opened down 0.14%.

Big Japanese manufacturers remained pessimistic in April for a fourth straight month as jitters over Western banks added to slowing global growth, dimming prospects for an export-led recovery.

Still, China’s industrial output in March rose 3.9% year on year, albeit slightly below expectations, and its economy grew 4.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, official data showed on Tuesday. Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday as US crude inventories were seen falling and on strong Chinese economic data, signalling strengthening fuel demand.

Higher oil prices incentivise manufacturers to shift away from synthetic rubber derived from oil, spurring the natural rubber market. Stocks slipped on Wednesday, while the dollar was under a little pressure, as traders shifted focus from US banking stress to expectations of an imminent peak in interest rates. The front-month rubber contract on Singapore Exchange’s SICOM platform for May delivery last traded at 138.8 US cents per kg, up 1.2%.