Natural rubber exports up 13.5% in February

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s natural rubber exports increased 13.5% to 54,632 tonnes in February 2021, compared to 48,125 tonnes in the previous month, according to the Statistics Department.

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said China remains as the main destination for natural rubber exports with a 40.5% share of total exports in February 2021, followed by Belgium (12.6%), Germany (8.4%), Finland (3.9%), and the United States (2.7%).

He said rubber gloves were the main export item with an export value of Rm5.8bil in February 2021, an increase of 3.9% compared to Rm5.6bil in January 2021.

The US led as the largest importer of rubber gloves, followed by Germany and China, he added.

“Production of natural rubber increased 9% to 49,840 tonnes in February 2021 compared to 45,735 tonnes in the previous month.

“On the contrary, year-on-year comparison showed a decrease of 0.1%,” Uzir said in a statement on the monthly rubber statistics.

The stocks of natural rubber increased 1.9% to 286,117 tonnes in February 2021 compared to 280,841 tonnes in January 2021.

The average price of latex concentrate rose 587.91 sen per kilogramme (kg) compared to 550.26 sen per kg in January 2021, while Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) surged to 672.68 sen per kg from 628.58 sen per kg.

The department said, however, domestic consumption of natural rubber decreased 5.1% to 44,697 tonnes in February 2021 from the previous month.

The use of natural rubber in the rubber glove manufacturing industry continued to lead with the use of 34,764 tonnes or 77.8% of the total domestic consumption in February 2021.