Malaysian NR production shows signs of stabilising

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- malaysian production of natural rubber (NR) in April 2008 was recorded at 77 673 tonnes. This is 1.0 percent higher than in April 2007, and 2.1 percent lower than March 2008. Total production in the first three months of 2008 amounted to 396,102 tonnes, a decrease of 1.5% when compared with the corresponding period in 2007.

Malaysia exported 89,163 tonnes of NR in April 2008, up by 12.1 percent on the same month last year, but down by 11.3 percent compared with March 2008. Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) constituted 94.3% of total exports. Of the total S.M.R. exported, S.M.R. 20 accounted the highest, 43.1%

Malaysia imported 21,248 tonnes of NR in April 2008, this was a significant decline. Imports were 35.4 percent down on a year ago and 54.2 percent lower than the previous month. The main type of rubber imported was latex concentrate which accounted for 49.3% of total imports in the reference month.

Domestic consumption of NR in April 2008 was 38,403 tonnes, up slightly on the year-ago figure, but down by 4.0% compared to March 2008. The major NR consuming industries for the period January - April 2008 were rubber gloves 63.6%, rubber thread 12.4% and tyre & tubes 11.8%. The total consumption of the three industries constituted 87.8% of the overall domestic consumption of NR.

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Official data from Malaysian statistics office.