Malaysia reports 6.3 percent decrease in natural rubber production

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysia’s natural rubber (NR) production decreased by 6.3% to 21,073 tons in May 2022 compared with 22,498 tons in April, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

In a statement, the department said the NR production dropped by 25.2% year-on-year from 28,164 tonnes in May 2021.

Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said 83.3% of the production of the commodity in May 2022 was mainly contributed by the smallholders sector compared to the estates sector (16.7%).

Total stocks of natural rubber in May 2022 decreased by 2.8% to 289,430 tonnes compared to 297,654 tonnes in April 2022.

“Rubber processors factory contributed 92.7% of the stocks followed by rubber consumers factory (7.2%) and rubber estates (0.1%),” he said.

Meanwhile, Uzir said exports of Malaysia’s natural rubber amounted to 43,197 tonnes in May 2022, decreased 26.3% against 58,596 tonnes in April 2022.

China remained as the main destination for natural rubber exports which accounted for 44.6% of total exports in May 2022, followed by the United States accounting for 12.4%, Turkey at 4.5%, Brazil 4.4% and Finland at 3.7%.

He said the export performance was contributed by natural rubber-based products such as gloves, tyres, tubes, rubber threads and condoms.

Gloves were the main export of rubber-based products with a value of RM1.6 billion in May 2022, a decrease of 30% compared to RM2.2 billion recorded in April 2022.

Uzir said global rubber market sentiment was supported by tighter natural rubber supply outlook, further economic stimulus in China and optimism surrounding the US-China trade front.

“Further gains were weighed by inflation anxieties, heightened uncertainty regarding global economic slowdown from China’s zero Covid-19 policy, and persistent Russia-Ukraine conflict as reported in the Malaysian Rubber Board Digest published in May 2022,” he added.