KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The production of natural rubber (NR) in December 2011 increased 17 per cent to 79,726 tonnes, compared to the previous month, the Statistics Department said in a statement Monday.
Year-on-year, production recorded a decline 6.5 per cent.
The department said the smallholdings sector contributed 93.8 per cent of total production, with the remaining 6.2 per cent coming from the estate sector.
The export of Malaysian NR in December 2011 expanded by 14.8 per cent to 76,144 tonnes compared with the previous month of the year, but decreased 4.2 per cent over December 2010.
Malaysia's NR was exported mainly to China (39 per cent), followed by Germany (12.4 per cent) and South Korea, Iran, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the United States, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
Meanwhile, the import of NR in December 2011 of 62,918 tonnes rose 5.2 per cent from November of the same year but slipped 1.2 per cent when compared with the same month of 2010.
Thailand was the main supplier (62.9 per cent) of NR, followed by Vietnam (12.3 per cent) and the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Domestic consumption of NR rubber inched up 0.2 per cent to 33,896 tonnes in December 2011 compared to November 2011, while it fell 7.4 per cent against the same month in 2010.
At the end of December 2011, the NR stocks held rose 5.5 per cent to 143,432 tonnes from November 2011, and up 0.7 per cent compared to the previous corresponding month.
The average monthly price of latex concentrate dropped 3.5 per cent to 668.26 sen in December 2011 compared to November the same year. It was 29.2 per cent lower compared with the corresponding month in 2010. The total number of workers in rubber estates in December 2011 was 10,900 persons, with salaries and wages paid amounting to RM15.6 million.
Month-on-month, the total number of workers engaged decreased by 216 persons, whilst year-on-year it went up by 90 persons or 0.8 per cent.
In December 2011, the ratio of total production to total area tapped was 128.9 kilogrammes per hectare.
Compared to November 2011, productivity increased 15.6 per cent, but declined by 2.1 per cent year-on-year. -- BERNAMA
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(ldtn)
