KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s natural rubber production increased to 22.4% to 28,164 tonnes in May 2021 compared with 23,013 tonnes in the previous month, said the Statistics Department. Year-on-year comparison also showed an increase of 33.8%.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the smallholdings sector was the main contributor to natural rubber production at 25,662 tonnes (91.1%), while the estate sector accounted for 8.9% of total production in May 2021.
“Month-on-month production of the smallholdings sector and estate sector showed an increase of 24.7% and 3.0% respectively,” he said in a statement on monthly rubber statistics today.
However, he said estate production in May was 2,502 tonnes with a slower growth rate of 3.0% on a monthly basis with tapped area declining by 0.7%.
According to Uzir, productivity of natural rubber in the estates was 56.3kg per hectare in May 2021, decreasing by 24.7% compared with May 2020.
Meanwhile, month-on-month comparison showed productivity increased by 3.7% from 54.3kg per hectare in the previous month, he said.
“The average price of latex concentrate rose to 636.76 sen per kg compared with 623.40 sen per kg in April 2021,” he said.
He also said Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) also increased from 667.85 sen per kg to 686.09 sen per kg for the same period.
Meanwhile, stocks of natural rubber decreased 6.4% in May 2021 to 242,194 tonnes as compared with 258,840 tonnes in April 2021, while stocks in rubber processors contributed 90% and the remaining were rubber consumers and rubber estates.
Nevertheless, Uzir said total domestic consumption for natural rubber increased 4.1% to 42,358 tonnes compared with the same month last year.
On the contrary, month-on-month consumption dropped by 10.0%.
He said the use of natural rubber for rubber gloves was the highest with 32,573 tonnes or 76.9% of total domestic consumption in May 2021, followed by rubber thread with 4,092 tonnes (9.7%) as well as tyres and tubes at 2,267 tonnes (5.4%).
“The use of natural rubber for rubber glove manufacturing in May decreased by 6.2% compared with 34,709 tonnes in April,” he said.
On exports, he said the offtake of Malaysia’s natural rubber amounted to 48,111 tonnes in May, a decrease of 13.6% against 55,696 tonnes in April.
“China remains the main destination for natural rubber exports, with a share of 54.3% from total exports in May followed by Germany (4.1%), the United States (3.1%), Turkey (2.8%), and South Korea (1.6%),” he said.
He also said rubber gloves was the main export with a value of RM5.5 billion in May, a decrease of 17.4% compared with RM6.7 billion the previous month.
“The main countries for rubber glove exports are the US with a value of RM2 billion, Germany (RM317 million), and India (RM154.8 million),” he added. – Bernama, July 14, 2021
