Malaysia’s natural rubber production in May rose 16.6 per cent to 50,016 from 42,881 tonnes recorded in April, the Statistics Department said today.
However, May 2013’s output was 28.4 per cent lower when compared with 69,873 tonnes produced in the same month last year.
The smallholdings sector accounted for 92.8 per cent of the natural rubber produced in May while estates accounted for the remaining 7.2 per cent.
Stocks at end-May 2013 stood at 122,908 tonnes, down 13.5 per cent, from 142,012 tonnes held at end-April 2013.
The highest producer of natural rubber on estates was Kedah (26.8 per cent), followed by Perak (17.7 per cent) and Negeri Sembilan (17.2 per cent).
Total exports of natural rubber in May 2013 amounted to 63,429 tonnes, up 3.8 per cent from 61,128 tonnes a month earlier, the department said in a statement.
The commodity was mainly exported to China (38.9 per cent), followed by Germany (14.0 per cent), Iran (7.8 per cent), the United States (4.5 per cent), Brazil (2.9 per cent), South Africa (2.2 per cent), Portugal (2.1 per cent) and Finland (4.2 per cent).
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s natural rubber imports rose 28.2 per cent to 71,264 tonnes in May compared with 55,602 tonnes imported in April.
The main suppliers were Thailand (51.3 per cent) and Vietnam (16.1 per cent), which together accounted for 67.4 per cent of the total imports in May.
Domestic consumption was up 4.1 per cent at 36,791 tonnes in May from 35,350 tonnes consumed the previous month.
The rubber gloves industry was the highest consumer of natural rubber (71.3 per cent), followed by rubber threads (8.3 per cent) and tyres and tubes (6.9 per cent).
These three industries consumed more than half of the overall domestic consumption in the country with a total of 31,783 tonnes.– Bernama
