KUALA LUMPUR – The production of rubber increased by 17.1% in December 2020 to 49,825 tonnes compared to 42,554 tonnes in the previous month, the Statistics Department said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, however, that year-on-year production showed a decrease of 14.7%.
“Exports of Malaysia's natural rubber amounted to 61,547 tonnes in December 2020, an increase of 8.9% against 56,522 tonnes in November 2020,” he said in a statement today.
He said China remained the main destination for natural rubber exports with 53.8% of total exports in December 2020 followed by Germany (10.2%), the United States (5.4%), Taiwan (2.7%), and Iran (2.5%).
“Rubber gloves was the main export item with an export value of RM4.6 billion in December, an increase of 3.6% from RM4.5 billion in November. The US, China, and Germany were among the highest importers of rubber gloves,” he added.
Meanwhile, the stock rubber decreased in December 2020 to 249,555 tonnes compared with 259,443 tonnes in November with a decrease of 3.8%.
“Average price of latex concentrate recorded a decrease of 582.79 sen per kg compared to 620.76 sen per kg in November.
“Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) also decreased to 628.74 sen per kg compared to 632.74 sen per kg for the same period,” he said.
Uzir said domestic consumption of natural rubber in December 2020 was 42,356 tonnes, a decrease of 4.5% compared with the previous month.
“The rubber gloves industry continues to dominate the use of natural rubber with 31,498 tonnes or 74.4% of the total domestic consumption,” he said. – Bernama, February 10, 2021
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