Malaysia’s natural rubber production up 9% in February

Kuala Lumpur – Natural Rubber (NR) production in Malaysia increased 9.1% year-on-year in the month of February to reach just under 29,700 tonnes, the country’s ministry of economy has announced.

Month-on-month, production fell 2.0%, compared to 30,300 tonnes reported in January, according to the data published by the ministry 5 April.

Malaysia's production of NR in February was dominated by the smallholders sector (85.7%) as compared to estates sector (14.3%).

Total stocks of NR in February increased by 11.8% month-on-month to 229,719 tonnes as compared to 205,498 tonnes in January.

Malaysia's NR exports rose 27.8% month-on-month to 55,082 tonnes in February, with China remaining the main destination for commodity, accounting for 52.3% of total exports.

Other top export destinations for Malaysian rubber included Germany (8.9%), the UAE (6.0%), the US (4.2%) and India (3.3%).

Total stocks of NR in February increased by 11.8% month-on-month to 229,719 tonnes: rubber processors 'factory' contributing 92.3%; rubber consumers 'factory' (7.6%); and rubber estates (0.1%). 

Analysis of the average monthly price showed that concentrated latex recorded an increase of 16.8% month-on-month in February to Sen684.19/kg.

Prices for all standard Malaysian rubber (SMR) registered month-on-month increases of between 3.5% to 16.6%, the official data also shows.

The NR production increase for February contrasts with significant year-on-year declines reported in mid-2023 (ERJ report) and late 2022 (ERJ report).