Malaysian NR production up 17%

LSRUNQI

Malaysian NR production up 17%
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
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Putrajaya, Malaysia - Malaysia’s Department of Statistics reported that production of natural rubber for July was 100,281 metric tons, an increase of 14,895 mt (+17.4%) compared to the previous month. For year-on-year, production of NR rose by 23.7% compared to July 2010. In July 2011, the total exports of NR decreased by 11,257 mt (-16.4%) to 57,334 mt compared with the previous month while for year-on-year, exports dropped by 18,171 mt (-24.1%). The main share of NR exports was Standard Malaysian Rubber (S.M.R) with a total of 54,681 mt (5.4%) of which 50.3% was from the S.M.R. 20 grade. The main destinations of NR exports were to China (34.7%), followed by Germany (14.2%), Rep. of Korea (6.0%), U.S.A (5.0%), Belgium (2.8%), Portugal (2.4%), Islamic Rep. of Iran (2.4%), France (2.3%), Taiwan (2.3%) and Brazil (2.1%). Malaysia imports a total of 47,898 mt of NR in July 2011, an increase of 1,998 mt (+4.4%) from the previous month. However, total imports shrank 9,135 mt (-16.0%) compared to the previous year. More than half of the total NR imports (51.4%) consists of latex concentrate with a total of 24,624 mt. Domestic consumption of NR was recorded at 34,995 mt in July 2011, increased by 4,136 mt (+13.4%) compared to a month ago, while year-on-year comparison shows a decrease of 3,166 mt (-8.3%). The highest consumption of NR was from the rubber glove industry (65.3%), followed by rubber thread (13.5%) and tires and tubes (7.8%). These three industries consume more than three quarters of the overall domestic consumption in the country with a total of 30,341 mt (86.7%).