KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — The production of natural rubber (NR) increased 3.7 per cent in September 2020 to 46,187 tonnes from 44,543 tonnes in the previous month.
Compared to the same month in the previous year, it declined 25.2 per cent, said the Statistics Department in its Monthly Rubber Statistics for September 2020.
“Exports of Malaysia’s NR amounted 48,720 tonnes in September 2020, an increase of 14.2 per cent against 42,658 tonnes in August 2020.
“China remains as the main destination for NR exports, with a share of 46.0 per cent of total exports in September 2020 followed by Germany (13.2 per cent), Iran (3.8 per cent), Finland (3.3 per cent) and Brazil (3.1 per cent),” said chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
He said rubber gloves were the main export item with export value increasing by 25.6 per cent from RM3.0 billion in August 2020 to RM3.8 billion in September 2020.
Among the highest exports of rubber gloves were to the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The stocks of NR rose in September 2020 with 255,140 tonnes compared with 233,492 tonnes in August 2020, a growth of 9.3 per cent.
“Average price of latex concentrate recorded an increase of 484.57 sen per kilogramme (kg) compared with August 2020 (467.71 sen per kg).
“Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) also increased to 558.50 sen per kg compared to 538.68 sen per kg for the same period,” Mohd Uzir added.
The department also reported that domestic consumption of NR in September 2020 was 45,207 tonnes, decreasing 2.9 per cent from the previous month.
Rubber glove manufacturing was the main consuming industry, accounting for 34,016 tonnes or 75.2 per cent of the total domestic consumption. — Bernama
