KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Domestic latex production still falls short of fulfilling the demands of the latex-based product industry, which represents 75 per cent of the country’s rubber-based product exports.
The Plantation and Commodities Ministry (KPK) said that currently, local natural latex production fulfils about five to 10 per cent of the industry’s needs, while the rest is imported from other producing countries like Thailand and Indonesia.
“This situation arises because the majority of smallholders in Malaysia tend to produce cup lumps rather than latex, which requires more labour-intensive tasks and a closer collection infrastructure,” it said on the Dewan Rakyat portal today.
KPK was responding to Tangga Batu MP Bakri Jamaluddin's query about the extent to which local latex production can meet industry needs.
It noted that last year, the country only produced 19,274 tonnes of latex compared to local usage amounting to 215,413 tonnes.
“Malaysia imported 220,282 tonnes of latex valued at RM2.33 billion as the main raw material for the production of latex-based products. The country’s annual latex requirement is projected to be between 215,000 and 250,000 tonnes,” KPK said.
The ministry added that domestic production continues to decline, the volume of imports is expected to rise further to meet downstream industry demand.
“Overall, local latex production is still insufficient to meet the demand of the latex-based product industry, especially in the production of rubber gloves, which are the main contributor to the export value of Malaysia’s rubber products,” it said.
