KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's natural rubber (NR) production in March declined 7.4% to 79,966 tonnes, compared with the preceding month, the Statistics department said.
In a statement on Friday, it said the smallholding sector was the main contributor to the NR production, accounting for over 90%.
It also said the average monthly price of latex concentrate and the Standard Malaysian Rubber 20 were 731.80 sen per kg and 863.07 sen per kg, down 8.3% and 10.7% respectively, from February.
March's NR exports rose 2.7% to 59,520 tonnes versus the previous month.
"The five main destinations of NR exports were China (51.7%), Germany (14.4%), Iran (4.4%), Finland (3.9%) and Turkey (2.8%)," it said.
Meanwhile, domestic consumption of natural rubber increased 15% to 41,727 tonnes compared with February.
The rubber gloves industry remained the main domestic consumer, at 70%.
The department said the level of NR stocks at end-March was up 4.1% to 256,692 tonnes from 246,498 tonnes in February. - Bernama
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