Natural rubber output up 28.5% in October 2017

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's natural rubber (NR) production rose 28.5% to 67,403 tonnes in October 2017 from 52,472 tonnes in September, according to the Department of Statistics.
In a statement today, the department said the smallholding sector was the main contributor to the NR production, accounting for 90%.
Year-on-year comparisons also showed an increase of 8.3% compared to October 2016, it said.
It said the average monthly price of latex concentrate and Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 in October 2017 were 489.36 sen per
kilogramme (kg) and 601.21 sen per kg, decreased by 11.4% and 9.0% respectively from September 2017.
Malaysia's NR exports grew 4.5% to 47,162 tonnes in October compared with September.
The five main destinations of the NR exports were China, Germany, US, Iran and Republic of Korea.
Domestic consumption of NR increased by 2,092 tonnes or 5.2% within the same period, while the rubber gloves industry remained the main NR domestic consumer at 72.9%.
The department said the level of NR stocks at-October increased by 6.5% or 12,564 tonnes to 206,593 tonnes compared with the previous month.