Malaysian NR production continues to decline in year to April, despite higher prices

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's production of natural rubber continues to decline compared to last year.

Total production in the first four months of 2007 amounted to 404,259 tonnes, a decrease of 5.3% when compared with the corresponding period in 2006. However, production in the month of April was 78,861 tonnes, up two percent on the figure for April 2006.

During January - April 2007, exports of natural rubber were mainly to the China (102 kilotonnes), Germany (47.6 kt), US 19.4 kt), France (18.1 kt), Korea (17.85 kt), Brazil (10.86 kt) and Finland (8.33 kt). Total exports to these seven countries accounted for 68.4 percent of the overall NR exports.

At the end of April 2007, Malaysia held NR stocks of150 kt, a decrease of 22.0 percent compared with the level of stocks held in March 2007. Stocks held declined by 20.1% compared to the same month last year./p>

In April 2007, the average monthly price of latex concentrate was 553.45 sen, 2.2 percent higher than in April 2006. For SMR, the average price in April 2007 was 732.92 sen, up by 3.5 percent on the same period a year ago.

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Official statistics from Malaysian government