BOUNCY GROWTH
MALAYSIA’S rubber exports are poised to rise 10 per cent more to RM27 billion this year due to strong global demand with shipments in the January-July period alone hitting RM19.1 billion.
MALAYSIA’S rubber exports are set to surpass RM27 billion this year, 10 per cent more than last year’s RM24.79 billion, on the back of higher global demand, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.
“We’re experiencing good rubber exports this year. In the first seven months of this year, we’ve already shipped out RM19.1 billion (worth of rubber),” he said.
“It’s not because of the weakening of the ringgit against the US dollar. As you can see, the ringgit has been steadily strengthening and is currently trading at around RM4.20 to the dollar,” said Mah.
He was speaking after present- ing scholarships from the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council (MREPC) to 29 students pursuing their tertiary education at local universities.
Present at the scholarship award ceremony was Supermax Corp Bhd group managing director Datuk Seri Stanley Thai. Representing medical glove exporters at the award, he said the increase in exports was due to the fact that big buyers in the United States were buying more natural rubber and nitrile variants from Malaysia, instead of vinyl gloves from China.
Earlier, Mah launched the MREPC Industry Linkage Fund (ILF) at an event themed “Enhancing Competitiveness through Research Collaboration”.
The fund is to support the development of high-value rubber products by nurturing talents in market promotion and product development. The ILF funds either research or a matching grant.
A full research grant will be awarded to projects which offer industry-wide solutions, while a matching grant will be awarded to projects that caters to specific projects that will benefit individual companies, especially small and medium enterprises.
On the upcoming 2018 Budget, scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on October 27, Mah said his ministry had written to the Finance Ministry to extend the reinvestment allowance for manufacturers beyond next year.
“We hope that the allowance will be extended as manufacturers have long-term plans for their businesses, and they need some time to implement them,” he said.
Under the 2016 Budget, the government has accorded the reinvestment allowance to manufacturers, with up to 60 per cent of the allowed capital expenditure for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Medical glove, catheter and condom manufacturers have and will continue to pump in a lot of money to automate many processes along their production lines.