Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) — Rubber climbed to a one-year high and posted the largest weekly gain in more than nine months on speculation rising crude oil and economic growth in China, the biggest consumer of the commodity, may boost demand.

Futures in Tokyo reached 235.7 yen a kilogram ($2,573 a metric ton), the highest level since Oct. 6, 2008. Oil was poised for a fourth week of advances, increasing the appeal of the commodity as an alternative to synthetic products made from petroleum. China’s economy expanded last quarter the fastest pace in a year.

“Oil and precious metals went up” helping rubber rally, Takaki Shigemoto, a commodity analyst at research and investment company JSC Corp. in Tokyo, said today by phone. China’s economic growth added fuel to commodity gains, he said.

March-delivery rubber rose as much as 3.5 percent on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange before closing at 233.9 yen. The contract advanced 9.9 percent this week, the biggest such gain since January.

Rubber for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.8 percent to settle at 19,140 yuan ($2,803) a ton.

Crude oil for December delivery was up 26 cents at $81.45 a barrel. Oil, which advanced 3.1 percent this week, has jumped 83 percent this year.

China’s gross domestic product grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter, the statistics bureau said yesterday. The country’s economy expanded as stimulus spending and record lending growth helped the nation lead the world out of recession.

Yesterday’s data also showed the country’s industrial production rose 13.9 percent in September from a year earlier, the fastest pace in more than a year as tax cuts and subsidies spurred record vehicle sales in the nation for General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG.

Rubber inventories increased 4,404 tons in the week ended Oct. 15 to 105,157 tons, the most since November 2004, the Shanghai exchange said last week.

Source: Bloomberg

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