10.2% Month-on-Month rise in Malaysia’s April 2022 NR exports

In the Department of Statistics, Malaysia’s (DOSM) recently released publication, Monthly Rubber Statistics, Malaysia, April 2022, it was reported that the country’s natural rubber (NR) production fell by 20.0 percent in April 2022 (22,498 tonnes) as compared to March 2022 (28,106 tonnes) mainly due to wintering 

This publication consists of statistics on the production, import, export, domestic consumption, stocks and prices of NR, the number of employees, salaries & wages and productivity of rubber estates in the country. 

The DOSM said that a year-on-year comparison also showed that NR production in April 2022 decreased by 2.2 percent (April 2021: 23,013 tonnes). The smallholder sector was the main contributor to NR production for the month in Malaysia, at 88.1 percent, as compared to estates sector (11.9 percent).  

In April 2022, the country’s total NR stocks fell by 4.1 percent to 297,673 tonnes, as compared to 310,433 tonnes in March 2022. Rubber processors factories contributed 92.5 percent of the stocks, followed by rubber consumer factories (7.4 percent) and rubber estates (0.1 percent).  

Malaysia’s NR exports amounted to 58,755 tonnes in April 2022, rising by 10.2 percent as against March 2022 (53,328 tonnes). China remained the main importer of NR from Malaysia, accounting for 39.7 percent of total exports in April 2022, followed by the US (11.3 percent), Finland (4.5 percent), Egypt (3.2 percent) and Iran (2.5 percent).  

According to the DOSM, the country’s export performance was contributed to by NR-based products such as gloves, tires, tubes, rubber thread and condoms. Gloves again accounted for the bulk of the exports of rubber-based products from Malaysia, with a value of RM2.2 billion ($498.3 million) in April 2022, rising 8.6 percent as compared to March 2022 (RM2.0 billion).

Analysis of the average monthly price showed that Latex Concentrated recorded a decrease of 2.5 percent (April 2022: 666.47 sen/kg, March 2022: 683.57 sen/kg) while, for Scrap fell by 0.7 percent (April 2022: 586.65 sen/kg, March 2022 : 591.02 sen/kg). The DOSM said that the movement of prices for all Standard Malaysian Rubber (S.M.R) declined between 0.8 to 2.5 percent. World Bank Commodity Price Data reported prices for TSR 20 (Technically Specified Rubber) and SGP/MYS (Singapore/Malaysia) decreased 2.4 percent (from $1.75/kg to $1.70/kg) and 1.3 percent (from $2.12/kg) to $2.09/kg) respectively. 

Read more at  Indian/International Rubber Journal Website

Reference : Indian/International Rubber Journal