KUALA LUMPUR (June 15): Production of natural rubber decreased by 33.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 23,013 tonnes in April 2021, compared with 34,616 tonnes in April 2020, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said this was due to the seasonal factor — the wintering period — which caused the trees to be less productive.
He said month-on-month (m-o-m), production of natural rubber fell by 36.2%.
“The stocks of natural rubber decreased 7.9% in April 2021 to 259,355 tonnes, compared with 281,729 tonnes in March 2021, with rubber processors accounting for 90.3%, followed by rubber consumers (9.6%) and rubber estates (0.1%).
“The decline in stocks was also influenced by factors at the supply level. Thus, the existing stocks were used to accommodate the reduction in production,” he said in a statement today.
Mohd Uzir said the average price of latex concentrate decreased to 623.40 sen per kilogramme (kg) in April 2021, compared with 680.20 sen per kg recorded in the previous month, while the Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) decreased from 707.89 sen per kg to 667.85 sen per kg for the same period.
The decline was due to concerns over the global rubber futures market, he said.
He said total domestic consumption for natural rubber increased 31.1% y-o-y to 47,096 tonnes, the highest recorded compared to the change in the first quarter of this year (1Q21).
“The use of natural rubber in rubber glove manufacturing continued to lead with 34,716 tonnes or 73.7% of total domestic consumption in April, followed by rubber threads at 4,198 tonnes (8.9%) and tyres and tubes at 3,588 tonnes (7.6%).
“The use of natural rubber in rubber glove manufacturing in April 2021 increased by 10.4%, compared with 31,456 tonnes in April 2020,” he said.
On exports, Mohd Uzir said offtake of Malaysia’s natural rubber declined 5.4% to 55,696 tonnes in April 2021, against 58,852 tonnes in March 2021, with China still the main destination with 57.4%, followed by Germany (8.1%), the US (3.9%), Turkey (2.6%) and Finland (2.4%).
“Rubber gloves were the main export items, with an export value of RM6.7 billion in April 2021, an increase of 4.7% compared to March 2021 (RM6.4 billion).
“The US was the highest importer of rubber gloves, followed by Germany and the UK,” he added.
