KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Production of natural rubber production increased by 37.8 per cent to 38,807 tonnes in June 2021, compared with 28,164 tonnes in May 2021, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
On a year-on-year basis, production increased by 15.7 per cent against 33,531 tonnes in the same month of the preceding year.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase was consistent with productivity phases of rubber production where the tapping yield is usually low from March to May, and the tapping yield is moderate from June to August.
“Rubber trees usually produce the highest yields from September to February,” he said in a statement today, adding that this was in line with a study conducted by the Malaysian Rubber Board.
The smallholder sector was the main contributor to the production of natural rubber in June 2021 at 89.2 per cent (34,599 tonnes) and the remaining was from the estate sector at 10.8 per cent (4,208 tonnes).
“Month-on-month production for these two sectors jumped to 35.2 per cent and 63.5 per cent, respectively.
“Meanwhile, on a year-on-year comparison, the smallholder sector remained positive at 20.3 per cent, whereas the estate sector showed a negative growth of 11.6 per cent,” said Mohd Uzir.
The price of latex concentrate decreased by 11.3 per cent to 564.62 sen per kilogramme (kg) in June 2021 from 636.76 sen per kg in the preceding month.
“A similar trend is also observed for all types of Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR), with SMR CV (-11.1 per cent), SMR L (-11.2 per cent), SMR 5 (-2.5 per cent), SMR GP (-2.5 per cent), SMR 10 (-2.5 per cent) and SMR 20 (-2.5 per cent), respectively.
“The decline of prices in Malaysia was in line with the movement of prices globally,” he said.
Based on the findings released by the World Bank Commodity Price Data, he said the prices for TSR 20 and SGP/MYS rubber declined by 3.1 per cent from US$1.69 per kg (US$1=RM4.23) to US$1.64 per kg and slipped by 7.4 per cent from US$2.29 per kg to US$2.12 per kg, respectively.
According to the chief statistician, total rubber stocks decreased by 0.02 per cent in June 2021 to 242,110 tonnes, compared with 242,167 tonnes in May 2021.
Similarly, he said domestic consumption decreased by 17.6 per cent to 34,862 tonnes, compared with 42,304 tonnes in May 2021.
Mohd Uzir also noted that exports of Malaysia’s natural rubber amounted to 48,589 tonnes in June 2021, rising by 1.0 per cent, against 48,111 tonnes in May 2021.
“China remained as the main destination for natural rubber exports with a share of 53.9 per cent from total exports in June 2021, followed by Finland (7.5 per cent), the United States (5.7 per cent), Germany (2.5 per cent) and Brazil (2.4 per cent).
“Gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products with a value of RM6.4 billion in June 2021, an increase of 16.6 per cent, compared with RM5.5 billion recorded in May 2021,” he said.
The main exporting countries for rubber gloves were the US with a value of RM2.7 billion, Germany (RM440.6 million), and India (RM201.9 million), he added.
On another note about the performance of the second quarter of 2021, he said production fell by 31.6 per cent to 89,985 tonnes against 131,643 tonnes in the first quarter.
“Several other major indicators also showed a downward trend such as exports (-5.7 per cent) and the use of natural rubber in the manufacture of rubber-based products (-12.2 per cent),” he said.
