Malaysian NR output increased in May

ERJ staff report (DS)

Kuala Lumpur -- A total of 65,254 tonnes of natural rubber (NR) was produced in May 2010, an increase of 5,521 tonnes (+9.2 percent) against the same period last year. This was also 10,724 tonnes (+19.7 percent) up on the previous month. Similarly, an increase of . The smallholding sector contributed 94.8 per cent of total NR production while the estate sector accounted for only 5.2per cent.

Malaysia exported 64,232 tonnes of NR in May 2010, up by 35.6 per cent on May 2009, but down by 6.2 per cent compared to the previous month. Standard Malaysian Rubber (S.M.R.), the main type of NR exported recorded 61,292 tonnes of which 50.3per cent was S.M.R 20.

The major destinations of Malaysia's NR was China (33.0 percent) followed by Germany (13.3 percent), Republic of Korea (7.6 percent), U.S.A. (5.5 percent), Portugal (3.3 percent), Netherlands (3.2 percent), Republic of Iran (3.1 percent), Brazil (3.1 percent)and Finland (2.3 percent).

Malaysia imported 49,734 tonnes of NR in May 2010, down by 15.7 per cent on the year-ago figure, but slightly higher than the previous month. Latex concentrate still remained as the main type of rubber imported and accounted for 57.5 per cent of total imports.

The main countries of NR imports were Thailand (74.7 percent), Myanmar (4.9 percent), Vietnam (4.0 percent), Philippines (4.0 percent) and Indonesia (3.3 percent). These countries accounted for 90.9 per cent of total imports.

In May 2010, domestic consumption of NR recorded 40,562 tonnes, down by 1.6 per cent on the year-ago figure.

NR stockpiles fell by 17,782 tonnes (-12.8 percent) to 120,731 tonnes in May 2010 when compared to the level of stocks of the previous month. However, year-on-year comparison showed that the stock level went up by 13.9 per cent. Most of NR stocks was held by Rubber Processors (88.7 percent).

In May 2010, the average price of rubber fell compared to April. The average price of latex concentrate dropped by 7.2 per cent to 702.03 sen whereas the average price of S.M.R. 20 dropped by 12.0 per cent to 919.60 sen. However, for year-on-year, the average price of rubber was still strong with increases of 69.5 per cent and 63.5 per cent respectively for latex concentrate and S.M.R. 20.

In May 2010, the productivity for NR production on estate was 81.6 kilogram per hectare, an increase of 33.1 per cent from the previous month whilst year-on-year, the productivity decreased by 26.2 percent.

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Press release from Malaysian statistics department