KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Bernama) — The export value of Malaysia’s rubber industry for January to September this year increased 4.3 per cent to RM24.21 billion from RM23.21 billion for the same period last year, says Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas.
The Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said of the total export value, natural rubber accounted for RM3.10 billion.
“Exports of rubber products for the same period increased 18.1 per cent from RM11.14 billion to RM13.16 billion, driven by an almost 22 per cent growth in exports of rubber gloves to global markets for the first nine months of this year,” he said at the presentation of rubber industry awards here tonight.
“Since the third quarter of 2014, the moderation in economic growth of major importing countries such as China and the European Union has affected prices of SMR20,” he said.
The sliding trend in prices, he said, persisted until October this year with the price of SMR20 at RM5.27 per kg, compared to an average of RM5.72 per kg in 2014.
The downward trend in SMR20 prices, he said, also lowered the export value of the rubber industry in 2014 to RM30.95 billion from RM33.73 billion in 2013.
The rubber industry, he said, contributed 1.2 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product in 2014.
— BERNAMA
