In May 2015, a total of 38,923 tonnes of natural rubber (NR) was produced, went up by 3,073 tonnes (+8.6%) from April 2015. However, this month’s NR production is 4,976 tonnes (-11.3%) lower compared to a year ago. The main contributor of NR was from the smallholding sector at 91.2 per cent, while the remaining is from the estate sector. For month-on-month, both of smallholding and estate sectors recorded an increase in production at 7.0 per cent and 27.8 per cent respectively.

2.     EXPORTS

Total exports of NR in May 2015 was 40,513 tonnes, decreased by 8,546 tonnes (-17.4%) from the previous month. Total exports also declined by 31.9 per cent compared to May 2014.  The Standard Malaysian Rubber (S.M.R.) contributed 92.1 per cent of the total NR exports with 50.8 per cent comprised of S.M.R 20.

The main destinations for NR exports were the People’s Rep. of China (36.2%), followed by Germany (16.3%), U.S.A. (5.7%), Islamic Rep. of Iran (4.3%), Brazil (3.4%), Portugal (3.2%), Rep. of Korea (2.5%), Turkey (2.5%) and Finland (2.3%).

Total imports of NR in May 2015 was recorded at 66,230 tonnes, dropped by 3,355 tonnes (-4.8%) from the previous month. Imports showed an increase of 6.4 per cent as compared to a year ago.  The main type of NR imported was Latex Concentrate (39.0%) and Standard Rubber (33.5%).

The NR was mainly imported from Thailand (53.3%) and Viet Nam (14.3%).

4.     DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

Total domestic consumption of NR was recorded at 38,860 tonnes in May 2015. Comparing to April 2015, the domestic consumption dropped by 1,049 tonnes (-2.6%). Year-on-year comparison shows an increase of 753 tonnes (+2.0%).

The major NR consuming industries for May 2015 were rubber gloves (74.1%), rubber thread  (7.8%) and  tyre & tubes (7.6%). These three industries covered more than half of the overall NR domestic consumption with a total of 34,813 tonnes (89.5%).

The level of NR stocks held at the end of May 2015 was recorded at 132,925 tonnes, a decrease of 43,440 tonnes (-24.6%) from the level of stocks in April 2015.  Nevertheless, the level of stocks registered an increase of 1.8 per cent when compared to a year ago. The biggest portion of the stocks was held by Rubber Processors (86.4%).

Data  for May 2015 is provisional.  The data will be updated based on the latest available figures and subsequently published in the June 2015 publication.