Malaysian NR output increased in June

ERJ staff report (DS)

Kuala Lumpur -- Malaysia's production of natural rubber (NR) in June 2011 was higher than the same period last year, and higher than in May. Production of natural rubber (NR) in hte month was recorded at 84,208 tonnes, up by 12,551 tonnes (+17.5 percent) compared to the previous month. Year-on-year comparison also shows an increase of 19.0 per cent.

The largest contributor of total NR production was from the smallholding sector at 94.6 per cent and the balance from the estate sector (5.4 percent). Kedah was the main producer of NR in estates (26.1 percent), followed by Negeri Sembilan (24.8 percent) and Pahang (14.4 percent).

Exports, however, declined. Total exports in the month reached 68,591 tonnes, a decrease of 12,577 tonnes (-15.5 percent)from the previous month. Total exports also declined by 3.8 per cent compared to last year. Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) was still the highest type of rubber exported at 64,876 tonnes (94.6 percent) of which 39.4 per cent was from the S.M.R. 20 grade.

NR exports were mainly to China (26.4 percent), followed by Germany (14.5 percent), Islamic Rep. of Iran (5.6 percent), US (5.3 percent), Rep. of Korea (3.3 percent), Finland (3.2 percent), Turkey (3.0 percent), United Kingdom (2.9 percent), Brazil (2.8 percent) and France (2.8 percent).

Malaysia imported 45,954 tonnes of NR in June - a small increase of 154 tonnes (+0.3 percent) when compared to the previous month. Similarly, total imports also shrank when compared to the previous year (-7.5 percent). Almost half of the total NR imports (49.8 percent) consists of latex concentrate with a total of 22,875 tonnes.

The main supplier of NR to Malaysia were from Thailand totalling 30,448 tonnes (66.3 percent), followed by Viet Nam (10.2 percent), Philippines (10.1 percent), Myanmar (2.6 percent) and Indonesia (1.7 percent).

Domestic consumption of NR in June 2011 also fell. Consumption in June dropped 1,783 tonnes (-5.5 percent) to 30,874 tonnes from the previous month. Similarly, when compared to the previous year, domestic consumption of NR also decreased by 5,088 tonnes (-14.1 percent).

The three industries consuming the highest NR were rubber gloves consumer (67.8 percent), followed by rubber thread (9.3 percent) and tyres and tubes (8.5 percent). The consumption by these three industries totalling 26,439 tonnes (85.6 percent) accounted for more than three quarters of the overall domestic consumption in the country.

At the end of June 2011 Malaysia held stocks of 122,972 tonnes, that is 5,829 tonnes (5.0 percent) higher when compared to the level of stocks of the previous month. Year-on-year comparison also showed an increase of 4.9 per cent. The bulk of the stocks was still held by Rubber Processors (86.7 percent).

The average price of NR in the month was lower than in May, but higher than a year earlier. When compared with the previous month, the average price of latex concentrate reduced by 20.26 sen (-2.1 percent) to 923.07 sen whilst S.M.R. 20 increased by 19.24 sen (1.4 percent) to 1,353.57 sen. However, year-on-year, the average prices of latex concentrate and S.M.R. 20 were still strong with gains of 30.1 per cent and 45.2 per cent respectively .

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Press release from Malaysian Statistical office