KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Natural rubber (NR) production rose by 24.9 per cent to 22,494 tonnes in May versus 18,008 tonnes in April, according to the Statistics Department (DOSM) today.
On-year, NR production fell by 12.2 per cent from 25,608 tonnes in May 2024, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.
He said 85.4 per cent of NR production for May this year was mainly contributed by smallholders, while estates contributed 14.6 per cent.
DOSM said May’s NR stocks fell by 11.4 per cent to 180,569 tonnes from the 203,708 tonnes in April 2025.
Rubber processor factories contributed 86.1 per cent of the stock, followed by rubber consumer factories (13.7 per cent) and rubber estates (0.2 per cent).
NR exports totalled 35,939 tonnes in May, up a marginal 0.1 per cent against April (35,901 tonnes).
“China remained the main destination for NR exports, accounting for 31.7 per cent of May’s total exports, followed by Germany (15.8 per cent), the United Arab Emirates (14 per cent), the United States (8.1 per cent), and India (6.6 per cent),” DOSM said.
Export performance was contributed by NR-based products such as gloves, tyres, tubes and rubber threads.
Gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products valued at RM1.04 billion in May, a 3.5 per cent fall against April (RM1.07 billion).
Analysis of average monthly price showed that concentrated latex recorded a 5.2 per cent fall to 613.80 sen/kg from 647.20 sen/kg in April, the statement said.
Scrap decreased by 5.4 per cent to 606.67 sen/kg in May from 641.27 sen/kg in April.
“Price trends for all Standard Malaysian Rubber showed a decline of between 3.2 per cent and 5.1 per cent.
“The World Bank Commodity Price Data reported that the prices for TSR 20 (Technically Specified Rubber) have decreased 0.2 per cent from US$1.71/kg to US$1.70/kg.
“SGP/MYS (Singapore/Malaysia) increased 3.3 per cent from US$2.13/kg to US$2.19/kg,” it added.
— Bernama
