KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 ― Malaysia's natural rubber (NR) production rose 17.7 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) to 49,087 tonnes in January 2022 from 41,690 tonnes in December 2021, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the smallholders segment contributed 89.1 per cent of NR production, while the estates segment contributed 10.9 per cent.

"In January 2022, total NR stock increased 8.7 per cent to 310,052 tonnes from 285,245 tonnes in December 2021, with rubber processing factories accounting for 92.3 per cent of the stocks, followed by rubber consumers factory (7.6 per cent) and rubber estates (0.1 per cent),” he said in a statement today.

On a year-on-year basis, Mohd Uzir said the NR production grew 7.3 per cent in January 2022 against 45,735 tonnes in January 2021.

Meanwhile, he said exports of Malaysia's NR expanded 11.3 per cent m-o-m to 51,158 tonnes in January 2022 from 45,982 tonnes in December 2021.

He said China continued to be the highest importer of NR, accounting for 37.7 per cent of the total exports in January 2022, followed by the United States (7.0 per cent), Finland (3.8 per cent), Germany (3.3 per cent) and Iran (3.2 per cent).

"The exports performance was contributed by NR-based products such as gloves, tyres, tubes, rubber threads and condoms,” Mohd Uzir said.

Gloves exports remained high at RM2.2 billion in January 2022, although this was 7.6 per cent lower compared with RM2.3 billion in December 2021.

According to DoSM, an analysis of the average monthly price showed that latex concentrate advanced six per cent to 572.08 sen per kilogramme (kg) in January 2022 versus 539.45 sen per kg in December 2021.

Meanwhile, scrap was 3.2 per cent higher at 603.05 sen per kg in January 2022 against 584.07 sen per kg in December 2021.

The upward price movement was also seen in the Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR) which increased between 2.9 and 6.0 per cent m-o-m in January 2022, it said.

Citing the World Bank Commodity Price Data report, DoSM said the Technically Specified Rubber (TSR 20) price rose 3.3 per cent to US$1.78 (RM7.50) per kg in January 2022 from US$1.72 per kg in December 2021, while the Singapore/Malaysia (SGP/MYS) type improved 2.7 per cent to US$1.97 per kg from US$1.92 per kg previously.

"According to the Malaysian Rubber Board Digest report released in January 2022, the rubber market’s recovery was driven by the encouraging global manufacturing activities and firmer advice from regional rubber futures markets,” it said.

It added that bargain-hunting activities, tighter global NR supply, surging crude oil prices and the weaker ringgit against the greenback also contributed to the market’s recovery in January 2022. ― Bernama