Malaysian rubber production down 18.6%

While natural rubber production may have risen 0.2 per cent in May 2018 to 35,789 tonnes compared with 35,726 tonnes in April 2018, year-on-year production decreased 18.6 per cent.

According to the Malaysian Department of Statistics, the average price of Latex Concentrate was recorded at 487.03 sen per kilogramme while the average price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) was 561.11 sen per kilogramme. These prices rose 9.3 per cent and 6.1 per cent respectively compared to the average price in April 2018.

Exports of natural rubber amounted to 57,263 tonnes, up 7.6 per cent over the previous month. Malaysia’s natural rubber mainly exported to China, Germany, Iran, Turkey and Finland.

Domestic consumption of natural rubber in May 2018 increased 1.5 per cent to 44,043 tonnes. Natural rubber was widely used in the rubber glove industry with consumption of 33,299 tonnes or 75.6 per cent of the total natural rubber domestic consumption.