KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Malaysia’s natural rubber production eased 0.1 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) to 27,188 tonnes in March 2023 from 27,209 tonnes in February 2023.
Production, however, rose 10.8 per cent year-on-year versus 24,549 tonnes in March 2022, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
In its monthly rubber statistics report released today, Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 88 per cent of March 2023’s production was contributed by smallholders while the remaining 12 per cent was from the estates.
For the first quarter of 2023 (1Q 2023), the DoSM said natural rubber production fell 7.2 per cent to 83,848 tonnes from 90,399 tonnes in 4Q 2022. Annually, it shrank 17.0 per cent against 101,045 tonnes in the 1Q 2022.
Total natural rubber stock grew 6.3 per cent to 203,372 tonnes in March 2023 versus 191,296 tonnes in February 2023.
“Rubber processors factory contributed 91.1 per cent of the stocks, followed by rubber consumers factory (8.8 per cent) and rubber estates (0.1 per cent),” it said.
Natural rubber exports were down 5.4 per cent to 45,789 tonnes in March 2023 versus 48,393 tonnes in February 2023, with natural rubber-based products such as gloves, tyres, tubes, rubber thread and condoms contributing to its performance.
Mohd Uzir said gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products valued at RM1.2 billion in March 2023, up 18.4 per cent compared with RM900 million in February 2023.
DOSM said China remained the main destination for natural rubber exports, accounting for 50.8 per cent of total exports in March 2023, followed by Germany (14.7 per cent), Turkiye (4.2 per cent), Pakistan (2.4 per cent) and Egypt (1.7 per cent).
The average monthly price for concentrated latex recorded a 1.6 per cent drop in March 2023 to 530.11 sen per kilogramme (kg) against 538.55 sen per kg in February 2023 while scrap fell 1.2 per cent to 468.68 sen per kg versus 474.50 per kg in February 2023.
Prices for all Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) dipped between 1.5 per cent and 1.7 per cent in March 2023 compared with the previous month, it added.
— Bernama
