Malaysia's February 2024 natural rubber output fell by 2.0pc - DOSM

Year-on-year comparison recorded a 9.1 per cent rise from 27,209 tonnes in February 2023.

In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 85.7 per cent of February 2024 production was contributed by smallholders and 14.3 per cent by the estates sector.

February 2024's total natural rubber inventory rose by 11.8 per cent to 229,719 tonnes versus 205,498 tonnes in the previous month.

He said rubber processor factories contributed 92.3 per cent of the stock followed by rubber consumer factories (7.6 per cent) and rubber estates (0.1 per cent).

Malaysia's natural rubber exports rose by 27.8 per cent for the month under review to 55,082 tonnes against January 2024's 43,111 tonnes with China accounting for 52.3 per cent of total exports, followed by Germany (8.9 per cent), United Arab Emirates (6.0 per cent), the United States (4.2 per cent) and India (3.3 per cent).

Gloves, tyres, tubes and rubber thread contributed to exports with gloves being the main product valued at RM1.09 billion in February 2024, a 7.0 per cent rise versus the previous month's RM1.02 billion, the statement said.

According to DoSM, an analysis of the average monthly price showed that concentrated latex recorded a 16.8 per cent rise for the month under review to 684.19 sen per kg while scrap rose by 3.7 per centto 604.59 sen per kg.

"Prices for Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) increased between 3.5 per cent to 16.6 per cent.

According to the Malaysia Rubber Board's February 2024 Digest, the Kuala Lumpur rubber market saw prices surge throughout the month as SMR 20 recorded a new high of 773.50 sen/kg since 2017.

"The positive sentiment was boosted by a weaker ringgit against the US dollar and heightened expectations of tight rubber supply from major producer Thailand owing to bad weather concerns and a fungus outbreak," it said.