KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 12): Malaysia's June natural rubber (NR) production rose by 16.8% month-on-month to 29,914 tonnes from 25,608 tonnes in May 2024, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Year-on-year, it increased by 0.2% from 29,867 tonnes in June 2023.

“Production of NR in June 2024 was mainly contributed by smallholders (87.6%) versus the estates sector (12.4%),” chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement on Monday.

Citing the Malaysia Rubber Board Digest published in June 2024, the DOSM said the Kuala Lumpur rubber market moved downtrend coupled with soft Chinese economic data.

“Market sentiment was also dampened by new European Union tariffs on China, and after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged.

“Global sentiment was also weighed down by persistent weak demand, particularly from China and uncertainties about US monetary policies,” it said.

In June 2024, the average monthly price for concentrated latex improved by 4.4% to 775.19 sen per kg from 742.36 sen per kg in May 2024 while scrap went up 7.7% to 707.51 sen per kg versus 657.16 sen per kg in the previous month.

Prices for all Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) increased between 3.3% and 4.4% in June 2024 compared with the previous month.

Meanwhile, the DOSM said total NR stock decreased 8.5% to 160,535 tonnes in June 2024 versus 175,381 tonnes in May 2024, with rubber processor factories contributing 90.1% of the stocks, followed by rubber consumer factories (9.8%) and rubber estates (0.1%).

It said NR exports fell 21.6% to 39,800 tonnes in June 2024 from 50,798 tonnes in the previous month.

“China remained the main destination for NR exports, accounting for 35.7% of June’s total exports, followed by Germany (11.8%), India (11%), the United Arab Emirates (6.6%) and the US (6.2%).

The export performance was contributed by NR-based products such as gloves, tyres, tubes and rubber thread.

“Gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products valued at RM1.23 billion in June 2024, a 1.7% decrease versus RM1.25 billion in May 2024,” it added.

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