by ASILA JALIL / pic by BLOOMBERG

THE production of natural rubber in the country increased 24.7% in July to 41,801 tonnes compared to 33,531 tonnes registered in June, according to monthly rubber statistics by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Yearly comparison of the production, however, registered a decline of 30.4% compared to the same month last year.

Exports of natural rubber increased 17.6% to 45,386 tonnes in July against 38,587 tonnes in June.

The main export destination for Malaysia’s rubber in July was China which accounted for 58.9% of total exports followed by Germany (6%), Finland (5.1%), Iran (3.9%) and Taiwan (3%). “Rubber gloves were the main export item with export value increasing by 14% from RM2.78 billion in June 2020 to RM3.17 billion in July 2020,” said DoSM in a statement yesterday.

The statistics also showed that average price of latex concentrate in the month dropped 2.6% to 467.2 sen per kg compared to 479.90 sen per kg, while price for Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 increased 2.8% to 497.86 sen per kg in July from 484.33 sen per kg the previous month.

Stocks of natural rubber declined by 7.4% to 235,119 tonnes in July versus 253,994 tonnes in June, the department stated.

Domestic consumption of natural rubber increased 5.8% to 46,844 tonnes compared to the previous month. The manufacturing of rubber glove industry was the main consumer accounting for 36,024 tonnes or 76.9% of the total domestic consumption.

Domestic consumption for the production of rubber thread amounted to 8.1% of total consumption, while tyres and tubes as well as other purposes accounted for 6.1% and 0.9% respectively.

As of July, Malaysia ranked sixth for the production of natural rubber among main producing countries.

Thailand topped the list with an estimated production of 442,2000 tonnes, followed by Indonesia (240,000), Vietnam (100,000), China (89,000) and India (50,000).