According to the Malaysian Department of Statistics, the country’s natural rubber (NR) production declined 28.7 % in February to 63,246 tonnes from 88,698 tonnes produced in the same month last year.
The smallholdings sector accounted for 91.4 % of the rubber produced in the month under review.
Stocks in February was 15.8 % higher at 285,616 tonnes from 246,583 tonnes recorded at end-February in 2017, the department said.
Export of natural rubber declined 14.4 %, year-on-year, in February to 49,627 tonnes from 57,959 tonnes previously with the top five export destinations being China, Germany, Iran, Finland and US.
Domestic consumption increased 9.1 % to 39,586 tonnes in February from 36,279 tonnes reported a year ago, the department said, adding that the rubber glove industry accounted for 74.9 % of the rubber used followed by rubber threads (9.6 %), tyres and tubes (6.1 %) and others (9.4 %)