The production line is seen at a factory of Malaysia rubber manufacturer Kossan Rubber Industries in Klang, Selangor state, Malaysia, Oct. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhu Wei)
KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's natural rubber production decreased by 3.6 percent to 29,451 tons in January from 30,556 tons in December, 2022, official data showed Tuesday.
Year-on-year comparison showed that the production of natural rubber plunged 39.3 percent from 48,546 tons in January last year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement.
According to the DOSM, exports of Malaysia's natural rubber amounted to 40,867 tons in January, which fell 16.3 percent as against 48,797 tons in December 2022.
China remained the main destination for natural rubber exports which accounted for 41.2 percent of total exports in January, followed by Türkiye (5.4 percent), Germany (5.1 percent), the United States (3.6 percent) and Brazil (2.7 percent).
The export performance was contributed by natural rubber-based products such as gloves, tires, tubes, rubber threads and condoms.
Gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products with the value declining by 14 percent month on month to 900 million ringgit (200.85 million U.S. dollars) in January 2023.
Meanwhile, total stocks of natural rubber in January slipped 3.4 percent to 194,553 tons as compared to 201,360 tons in December 2022.■
