The main natural rubber export destination was China with a share of 58.9% from total exports in July, followed by Germany (6.0%), Finland (5.1%), Iran (3.9%) and Taiwan (3.0%).

Rubber gloves were the main export item with export value increasing by 14.0% from RM2.78 billion in June to RM3.17 billion in July, chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today.

He said stocks of natural rubber also declined in July by 7.4% to 235,119 tonnes as compared to 253,994 tonnes in June.

Production of natural rubber increased 24.7% in July to 41,801 tonnes as compared to 33,531 tonnes in the previous month while the comparison year-on-year showed a decrease of 30.4% as compared to the same month in the previous year.

“Average price of latex concentrate recorded a decrease of 467.20 sen per kg as compared to June (479.90 sen per kg).

On the other hand, Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 (SMR 20) increased to 497.86 sen per kg as compared to 484.33 sen per kg for the same period, he said.

DOSM also reported that domestic consumption of natural rubber in July was 46,844 tonnes, an increase of 5.8% when compared to the previous month.

Rubber glove manufacturing was the main industry with 36,024 tonnes or 76.9% of the total domestic consumption, it said.