Natural rubber production recovers as leaf fall season ends

Kuala Lumpur – Natural Rubber (NR) production recovered in the month of May, as the seasonal leaf foliation period ended in April, according to the latest data by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC).

May’s output grew 12.2% month-on-month to just over 1 million tonnes, but was slightly lower than the same month last year, said ANRPC 20 June.

The association marginally lowered its projection for the 2023 global NR production to 14.888 million tonnes, down from 14.916 million tonnes reported in April.

This, it said, was due mainly to China’s lowering its output forecast from 880,000 tonnes to 852,000 tonnes for the year.

While most ANRPC members increased production in May, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, registered a fall from the previous month.

The association linked the drop to circumstances such as climatic change, “unsightly, uneconomical low rubber prices”, and the negative consequences of leaf diseases.

In Malaysia, for instance, several farmers reported that heatwaves had reduced their productivity by around 40% to 50%, said ANRPC.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, is still struggling to recover from its ‘worst economic crisis’ in 2022, which saw fertiliser shortage delaying tapping in young plantations.

Furthermore, the shortage last year led to 60% of the country’s rubber estates being affected by Pestalotiopsis leaf fall diseases.

This has resulted in low yield across plantations this year, ANRPC added.

In terms of demand, the association revised up annual outlook by 0.3% to 15.118 million tonnes, following an upward revision to Chinese demand.

For the month of May, year-on-year demand grew 3.5% to 1.272 million tonnes, despite a marginal month-on-month decline.