Malaysia Feb natural rubber exports up 21% y-o-y

by **Cals** Fri 11 Apr 2014, 14:26

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Bernama

Friday, 11 April 2014 13:23

KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 11): Natural rubber exports in February rose 12,945 tonnes or 21 per cent to 74,452 tonnes versus the same period last year, the Statistics Department said today.

On a month-on-month basis, the total natural rubber export increased by 4,034 tonnes (+5.7 per cent) from January 2014.

Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) contributed 94.9 per cent to total exports, with 57.4 per cent of that comprising SMR 20, the department said in a statement here today.

Natural rubber was exported mainly to China (56.3 per cent), followed by Germany (13.1 per cent), the United States (3.8 per cent), Brazil (2.5 per cent), Iran (2.1 per cent), South Korea (2.1 per cent), Portugal (2.0 per cent) and France (1.6 per cent).

Imports on a year-on-year basis dipped 12,303 tonnes or 16.3 per cent whilst month-on-month, it dropped 43,117 tonnes or 40.5 per cent.

Production for the month under review totalled 73,180 tonnes, easing 3.7 per cent year-on-year, with the small-holding sector contributing 92.7 per cent, whilst the estate sector accounted for 7.3 per cent.

Negeri Sembilan produced the highest amount of natural rubber among estates, accounting for 21.5 per cent, followed by Kedah (17.0 per cent) and Pahang (14.6 per cent), the department said.

Total domestic consumption in February was 33,969 tonnes, up 382 tonnes or one per cent year-on-year, with the rubber gloves industry being the highest consuming industry at 70.8 per cent, followed by rubber thread (8.0 per cent) and tyre and tubes (7.2 per cent).