Glove, tyre industries largest consumer of natural rubber

by **hlk** Sat 13 Aug 2011, 09:32

KUALA LUMPUR: The local rubber gloves, tyres and tubes and rubber thread industries remained the largest consumer of domestic natural rubber (NR), taking up 26,439 tonnes in June, said the Statistics Department.

Of the total domestic consumption at 30,874 tonnes for the month under review, rubber gloves accounted for 67.8%, rubber thread 9.3%, tyres and tubes 8.5% and others 14.4%.

The department, in its June rubber report released yesterday, said NR production in June was up 17.5% at 84,208 tonnes compared with the previous month.

The smallholding sector also continued to be the largest contributor to NR production at 94.6%, while the balance 5.4% was from the estate sector.

The department also said NR stocks were 5% higher at 122,972 tonnes in June, with 87% still held by the rubber processors.

As for NR exports, there was a 15.5% decline in total exports at 68,591 tonnes in June from a month ago.

Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) was still the highest type of rubber exported at 94.6% or 64,876 tonnes, of which 39.4% was from the SMR 20 grade.

A majority of NR exports goes to China (26.4%), followed by Germany (14.5%), Iran (5.6%), the United States (5.3%), South Korea (3.3%), Finland (3.2%), Turkey (3%), Britain (2.9%), Brazil (2.8%) and France (2.8%).

The NR imports in June, meanwhile, increased marginally by 0.3% to 45,954 tonnes. Almost half of the total NR imports consists of latex concentrate at 22,875 tonnes.

Thailand is the top major NR supplier to Malaysia at 66.3% or 30,448 tonnes for the month under review.

On NR prices, the Statistics Department said the average monthly price was mixed in June.

The average price of latex concentrate eased 2.1% to RM9.23 per kg and SMR 20 was up 1.4% to RM13.54 sen per kg.

For the month under review, the Statistics Department said NR productivity in the estates was recorded at 117.5 kg, up 41.4% from a month ago and 7.8% year-on-year.

The average number of tapping days recorded was 23 days with Negri Sembilan and Pahang among the states with the highest number of tapping days at 25 days.