Summary Of Monthly Rubber Statistics Malaysia May 2013 (Updated: 12/07/2013)

1. PRODUCTION

In May 2013, the production of natural rubber (NR) was recorded at 50,016 tonnes. Production increased by 7,135 tonnes (+16.6%) from April 2013, whereas for year-on-year, it fell by 19,857 tonnes (-28.4%). The smallholding sector was the main producer of NR at 92.8 per cent while the estate sector contributed 7.2 per cent. Kedah recorded the highest NR in estates (26.8%), followed by Perak (17.7%) and Negeri Sembilan (17.2%).

2. EXPORTS

A total of 63,429 tonnes of NR were exported in May 2013, an increase of 2,301 tonnes (+3.8%) compared to April 2013. Comparison with the same month in 2012 shows that exports increased by 614 tonnes (+1.0%). Standard Malaysian Rubber (S.M.R.) dominated 93.6 per cent of total NR exports where S.M.R. 20 accounted the highest, 48.9 per cent.

NR was mainly exported to People's Rep. of China (38.9%), followed by Germany (14.0%), Islamic Rep. Of Iran (7.8%), U.S.A. (4.5%), Finland (4.2%), Brazil (2.9%), South Africa (2.2%) and Portugal (2.1%). The total exports to these countries accounted for 76.6 per cent of the overall NR exports.

3. IMPORTS

In May 2013, the total imports of NR amounted to 71,264 tonnes increased by 15,662 tonnes (+28.2%) from April 2013 and 8,876 tonnes (+14.2%) from May 2012. Latex Concentrate and Standard Rubber were the main type of NR imported, at 38.9 per cent and 36.4 per cent respectively.

NR was imported mainly from Thailand at 51.3 per cent and Viet Nam 16.1 per cent. These two countries accounted for 67.4 per cent of the total NR imports in May 2013.

4. DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION

Total domestic consumption of NR was recorded at 36,791 tonnes in May 2013. Comparing to April 2013, domestic consumption went up by 1,441 tonnes (+4.1%). Year-on-year comparison also shows an increase of 370 tonnes (+1.0%).

The major NR consuming industries for May 2013 were rubber gloves 71.3 per cent, rubber thread 8.3 per cent and tyre & tubes 6.9 per cent. These three industries consumed more than half of the overall domestic consumption in the country with a total of 31,783 tonnes (86.5%).

5. STOCKS

In May 2013, the level of stocks was recorded at 122,908 tonnes, decreased by 19,104 tonnes (-13.5%), compared to the level of stocks held last month. Nevertheless, the level of stocks registered an increase of 11.1 per cent when compared to the same month last year.

6. AVERAGE MONTHLY PRICE PER KILOGRAM
(Noon Quotations - F.O.B.)

The average monthly price of NR in May 2013 shows a small increase compared to the previous month. The average price of latex concentrate was recorded at 584.02 sen, increased 2.77 sen (+0.5%) from April 2013 but it dropped by 135.03 sen (-18.8%) when compared to May 2012.

The average monthly price of G.M.M. 20 was recorded at 744.88 sen in May 2013, declined 0.6 per cent for month-on-month and 27.7 per cent for year-on-year.

7. EMPLOYMENT

The number of persons engaged in rubber estates at the end of May 2013 was 12,868 of which 12,864 were paid employees with total salaries & wages paid mounting to RM14.4 million. The number of paid employees dropped 0.2 per cent from the previous month but increased by 2.4 per cent from the previous year.

8. PRODUCTIVITY

The productivity of NR production in estates increased by 31.8 per cent to 85.4 kilogramme per hectare in May 2013 when compared to April 2013. However, year-on-year, productivity showed a small decrease of 3.3 per cent.

Notes:

1. This report can be accessed through the website of the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (http://www.statistics.gov.my) under the section: Statistical Releases.

2. Data for May 2013 is provisional. The data will be updated based on the latest available figures and subsequently published in the June 2013 publication.

Released by:

THE OFFICE OF CHIEF STATISTICIAN MALAYSIA
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA
12 JULY 2013