KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Malaysia’s natural rubber (NR) production decreased by 5.9 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) in September 2022 to 35,460 tonnes.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia said that on a year-on-year basis, the output fell by 13.9 per cent.

The smallholders sector was the main contributor to production at 87.9 per cent while the estates sector contributed 12.1 per cent, it said in a statement today.

Total NR stockpile shrank by 5.7 per cent m-o-m to 198,659 tonnes in September from 210,768 tonnes in August, with rubber processing factories holding 90.7 per cent of the stocks followed by factories consuming rubber (9.2 per cent) and rubber estates (0.1 per cent).

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s NR exports in the month under review amounted to 54,542 tonnes, down 9.4 per cent against 60,170 tonnes in August 2022. China remained the main destination, accounting for 46.5 per cent of the total shipment in September, followed by Germany (6.1 per cent), Brazil (4.0 per cent), Iran (3.8 per cent) and the United States (3.1 per cent).

The average monthly price of latex concentrate recorded a decrease of 7.4 per cent to 476.76 sen per kg from 514.73 sen per kg in August 2022.

As for scrap rubber’s average price, DoSM said it declined by 12.6 per cent to 465.86 sen per kg in September from 533.29 sen per kg in the preceding month.

For the third quarter of 2022, NR production declined by 16.4 per cent y-o-y to 110,969 tonnes. — Bernama