KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — The production of rubber increased by 17.1 per cent in December 2020 to 49,825 tonnes compared to 42,554 tonnes in the previous month, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said, however, year on year production showed a decrease of 14.7 per cent.
“Exports of Malaysia’s natural rubber amounted to 61,547 tonnes in December 2020, an increase of 8.9 per cent against 56,522 tonnes in November 2020,” he said in a statement today.
He said China remained the main destination for natural rubber exports with 53.8 per cent of total exports in December 2020 followed by Germany (10.2 per cent), the United States (5.4 per cent), Taiwan (2.7 per cent) and Iran (2.5 per cent).
“Rubber gloves was the main export item with export value of RM4.6 billion in December, an increase of 3.6 per cent from RM4.5 billion in November. The US, China and Germany were among the highest importers of rubber gloves,” he added.
Meanwhile the stock rubber decreased in December 2020 to 249,555 tonnes compared to 259,443 tonnes in November with a decrease of 3.8 per cent.
“Average price of latex concentrate recorded a decrease of 582.79 sen per kilogramme (kg) compared to 620.76 sen per kg in November.
“Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) also decreased to 628.74 sen per kg compared to 632.74 sen per kg for the same period,” he said.
Mohd Uzir said domestic consumption of natural rubber in December 2020 was 42,356 tonnes, a decrease of 4.5 per cent compared to the previous month.
“Rubber gloves industry continues to dominate the use of natural rubber with 31,498 tonnes or 74.4 per cent of the total domestic consumption,” he said.
— Bernama
