August rubber production falls

Malaysia’s natural rubber production in August stood at 70.1 tonnes, representing a decline of 15.4% from 82.9 tonnes in the preceding month and 2.8% from 72.1 tonnes in August last year.

According to the Statistics Department, the smallholding sector was the biggest contributor, accounting for 92.7% of the natural rubber produced in August, while the remainder came from the estate sector.

The main producers of natural rubber in estates were Negeri Sembilan (22.3%), Kedah (18.9%) and Perak (14.8%).

Malaysia exported 71.3 tonnes of natural rubber in August, representing an increase of 2.2% from the preceding month and 14.1% year-on-year. China was the main destination for Malaysia’s natural rubber exports, accounting for 42.6% of that share. This was followed by Germany and the United States.

Meanwhile, Malaysia also imported 87.3 tonnes of natural rubber in August, mainly from Thailand (47%) and Vietnam (34.2%).

Domestic consumption of rubber in August stood at 34.3 tonnes, representing a decline of 9.1% from the preceding month and 2.7% from a year ago. The rubber gloves industry was the highest consuming industry of natural rubber, accounting for 71.8% of consumption. This was followed by rubber thread (9%) and tyre and tubes (5.8%).

The average monthly prices of natural rubber in August 2013 showed an increasing trend. The average price of latex concentrate stood at 527.03 sen per kilogramme, up from 3.51 sen in July 2013, while the price of SMR 20 stood at 763 sen per kg, up 65.8 sen. from a month ago.