FEBRUARY marks the lowest for Malaysia; natural rubber produced was at 88,077 tonnes, a drop of 3,503 tonnes compared with the same month in 2011. The figure was up by 2,918 tonnes on the January figure.
Exports reached 64,052 tonnes in February, down by 5,586 tonnes (-8.0 percent) compared to a year ago but up by 7,521 tonnes (+13.3% percent) compared to the previous month. Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) comprised 93.6% of the total exports.
China was the top export destination for NR with a total of 23,494 tonnes, followed by Germany with 9,707 tonnes, the US with 3,449 tonnes, South Korea with 2,696 tonnes, Portugal with 2,228 tonnes, Finland with 1,915 tonnes, Brazil with 1,736 tonnes, South Africa with 1,530 tonnes and Turkey with 1,520 tonnes. The total exports to these countries accounted for 75.4% of the overall NR exports.
NR imports amounted to 64,406 tonnes in February 2012, up by 9,768 tonnes (+17.9%) from January 2012 and by 10,323 tonnes (+19.1%) from February 2011.
At the end of February 2012, the level of stocks was recorded at 157,990 tonnes, increased by 5,591 tonnes (+3.7%), compared to the level of stocks held last month. However, the level of stocks was 32,575 tonnes (-17.1%) lower from a year ago.(PRA)
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