THE country’s natural rubber production decreased 8.2% to 45,730 tonnes in January 2021 from 49,825 tonnes in the preceding month, the Statistics Department said.

It said production also fell year-on-year by 31.0%.

Chief statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said exports in January amounted to 48,125 tonnes, down by 21.8% from 61,547 tonnes in December 2020.

”China remained the top destination for natural rubber, making up 43.4% of total exports for January 2021, and it was followed by Iran (8.5%), Germany (5.9%), Turkey (5.1%) and Finland (4.3%),” he said in a statement today.

Uzir said rubber gloves were the main export item with exports valued at RM5.6 billion in January, a 21.6% jump from RM4.6 billion in December 2020. The United States, Germany and China were among the biggest importers of rubber gloves.

According to him, natural rubber stocks rose 11.7% to 278,817 tonnes in January compared with 249,551 tonnes in December last year.

Meanwhile, the average price of latex concentrate recorded a decline to 550.26 sen per kg from 582.79 sen per kg in the month before. Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 also witnessed a drop to 628.58 sen per kg compared with 628.74 sen per kg previously.

The department also reported an 11.2% month-on-month jump in total NR domestic consumption to 47,115 tonnes in January.

It said the rubber glove industry continued to dominate the use of natural rubber at 35,978 tonnes or 76.4% of total domestic consumption. – Bernama, March 15, 2021.