Natural rubber production up 1.9 per cent in November

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s natural rubber (NR) production increased 1.9 per cent to 52,174 tonnes in November 2018 from 51,209 tonnes in the previous month, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

In a statement yesterday, DoSM said the NR production in November, however, fell 11.1 per cent on a year- on-year basis.

It said the NR stockpile in November climbed 2.6 per cent to 169,920 tonnes from 165,550 tonnes in October.

DoSM said the average price of latex concentrate was recorded at 380.63 sen per kilogramme ( kg), whereas the average price of Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 ( SMR 20) was 509.35 sen per kg.

“Both fell 5.2 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively, as compared to the average price in October 2018,” it said.

On exports, it said the NR exports fell 2.3 per cent monthon-month to 52,943 tonnes in November. China was the main destination, accounting for 56.9 per cent of the total exports.

“This was followed by Germany (11.9 per cent), Finland (4.6 per cent), Iran (three per cent) and South Korea (three per cent),” it said.

On domestic consumption of NR in November, DoSM said it declined 4.3 per cent to 42,834 tonnes against 44,771 tonnes in October. — Bernama